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Group101 goes into Liquidation – A final farewell
Group101 goes into Liquidation – A final farewell
It’s with great regret that as of Monday the 9th of April 2018 Group101 officially ceased trading and has been placed into voluntary liquidation.
To help try and explain how this happened…
A volley of events occurred in a relatively short period of time. We were a busy thriving company which demanded some big investments to maintain orders efficiently as well as open further opportunities. As a result, we committed to those investments. A short time after, I was struct down with pneumonia and unable to run my business for almost six weeks, leaving my company in the hands of my staff. During this time a number of crucial mistakes were made, resulting in the loss of some key accounts which contributed to a large percentage of our overall sales. By the time I had returned to work, still not 100% health wise, I did my best, but I was unable to maintain the level of sales required to keep Group101 trading.
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I built Group101 from the ground up and started the business in a bedroom measuring 3m x 3m, it rapidly grew over the years and we were pioneers in investing in new technology and trends way before others did. One of the things I am most proud of is the fact Group101 was built on good old hard work and dedication, we didn’t have any investors and neither did we have to answer to a board of directors. We were a totally independent company which made running and developing Group101 a pleasure.Having to say goodbye to what can only be described as "my Baby" is very difficult and painful indeed, having worked in the printing and signage industry which I have simply fallen in love with over the years.
“It’s been my absolute pleasure to serve each and every one of our clients. Many of you have become more than customers, some friends and some even mates during the 10 years trading with you.
Thank you to all the clients and suppliers I have worked with and my sincere apologies if you have been affected in any way negative due to the closure of my company. My intention was never to be in this situation but sadly with factors outside of my control, I had no other option.
Since the closure of Group101, I have been offered a sales position within a company which I have accepted. Not only to keep a roof over my family’s head, but this new opportunity allows me to stay within an industry I know and love.
Kind Regards
James H Sahota
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12 Replies
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James
known you since you were based in Chadwell Heath & know how much effort you put in to growing the business, sorry to see it go, but all the best for the future -
Picked this up on e-mail.
Very sad watching the video, a huge amount of respect for James I can’t imagine the courage it took to be so open & public, where others would have buried their heads in the sand :claps:
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Never had the pleasure of dealing directly with you James, but know you were (& hopefully still will be!) a regular contributor on the boards. Very sorry to hear your news & hope the future is kind to you.
Great to see such honesty, it’s not easy under such circumstances but it shows why you were as successful as you were. All the best to you & your family. :thumbsup: -
Best of luck. Never dealt with you James but enjoyed your posts and the knowledge you shared.
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James its so sad, you have helped us many times and you always looked after us here at Dynamite, sad mate
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I am so sorry that you have had to close your company James. It must be very painful for you having grown it into such a success in a relatively short period of time. I have always believed you were someone who had great integrity, which is the main reason why you were so successful. I have no doubt whatsoever, that you will bounce back from this temporary setback, and I am sure we will hear a lot more from you in the future. Good luck in whatever you decide to do next. If you keep your integrity intact, you are sure to keep people on your side.
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Dealt with James/Group101 a couple of times. Any issues quickly sorted. Never any drama or problems.
As anybody who is self-employed knows, even running just a small 1 or 2 person business is difficult enough and the hardships you sometimes have to go through can be very stressful.
I can only imagine what it must be like to start as such a small business and build it into something so large, only to see it break apart. And through no fault of your own.James, whatever the future brings, I commiserate with you and wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
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I’m also very sorry you had to close down James, I think it shows how vulnerable all businesses can be.
I seem to remember being the first to see your new premises, some fantastic machinery and admired you for trying to stay ahead of the game investing in new technology.
You’re a descent guy with great integrity as has been said and I wish you all the very best for the future.
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Heya James,
Just want to mirror previous comments, was always a pleasure to see you! -
You turned around a grands worth of tray signs for me in two days.
That was good service.Good luck in the future.
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I was stunned to learn about your business and what had happened to yourself, I know we had our problems but you seem to be going places. It’s been a long time since I logged in here, but best regards to you and Gabby and hope you recover once again.
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WOW! :blushing: :blushing: 🙁
I’m touched by the kind words of each and everyone of you who have taken the time to either comment on this post or have taken the time to call me, text me or even facebook message me.
Its been overwhelming the number of kind and sweet comments I have received during what can only be described as a nightmare. You really do realise who your friends are doing your darkest and most testing times.
For those of you who don’t know I started Group101 from my bedroom shortly after graduating with an old A3 printer which cost a little over £200.00 and ended up with my last purchase being a £600K 5m wide durst printer. The point simply here being that anyone of you can achieve whatever level of success you may want from your business. I was notorious for setting goals and smashing them to pieces.
My advice simply being get up and get it done, give it all you got, whilst others are in the pub having fun you need to carry on working and hustling hard because eventually it will all fall into place. You do something long enough you actually become good at it. I would regularly go without sleep for 3 days and be working around the clock to make sure I got done what I needed to, I even delayed my honeymoon by 6 months and almost missed the birth of my first son as I literally was working every God damn hour I could.
I made some fundamental mistakes towards the end, coupled with bad health which ultimately ended up costing me my business, although not directly linked with my actions the buck ultimately stops with me so I won’t be pointing any fingers.
Having a-lot more free time these days is a very odd thing for me and I hate sitting around not doing anything productive especially the weekends, I’ve always been so used to working no matter what day of the week it was. I’m enjoying more time with my family and my two young boys which isn’t a bad thing I guess.
I accepted a job as a Sales Director at Fulham Graphics, don’t let the word director fool you this is purely my title and I’m in no way a director of this company. You will be seeing me back on the boards again a little more now as I convinced my new company to sign up for a paid membership. These boards are a very addictive place and I still want my daily fix…
Hope to see you all soon
Kind Regards
James Sahota
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