UK components distributor Direction Technology Ltd has acquired the loss-making business of one of its customers, Southampton-based personal computer retailer Diamond Computers. A holding company, Ricewood Plc, has been set up in Guildford, Surrey as umbrella for Kingston-upon-Thames based Direction and its subsidiary Marstrom, which is now effectively trading as Diamond. Direction managing director Sebastian Ballan said Diamond made very good money but also managed to lose it. A creditors’ voluntary arrangement is in place, with Ricewood prepared to meet 30% of the unspecified, and as yet untotalled debts. Diamond’s 10 stores, stretched across the UK from Poole, Dorset to Edinburgh, will remain open. Later this year, more outlets will open in the Midlands belt, probably in Birmingham and Nottingham. They will now focus on personal computers and multimedia, selling Direction kit and a branded line, possibly either from IBM Corp or Ambra Computer Corp. But having begun negotiations with people from IBM UK, Ballan says the latest round of poor results from the company (CI No 2,220) means he’s left trying to work out if the guys we were talking to have been made redundant. Diamond stores were traditionally well-stocked with games software but Ballan is pulling out of the Amiga market, as he believes it is on the decline due to users opting instead for more powerful systems that can run both games and business programs.
