Update: Elonex goes into administration

Struggling UK direct-sales pioneer Elonex has been forced to called in administrators

UK PC maker Elonex has confirmed that it has entered administration.

An employee of the London-based firm said that “nobody was in” to respond to requests for comment but added, “We have not gone into liquidation. We’re in administration and running the company as normal.”

Deloitte confirmed it has been appointed as administrator and has already made 28 redundancies, leaving 48 staff remaining.

"Elonex has a strong customer base and good products and with the support of the company’s staff, customers and suppliers we are hopeful that we will be able to conclude a sale of the business as a going concern," said Deloitte’s Neville Kahn.

Elonex rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, leading the UK boom in direct sales of PCs and earning a place for founder Israel Wetrin in the Sunday Times Rich List.

However, unlike many rivals that relied on assembling components, it invested in manufacturing and even a research and development facility in the US that later gathered over $100m from licensing intellectual property (IP) to many IT giants.

At some point, Elonex spun off its IP division to a Luxembourg-based group of companies called InPro that claims to hold patents in power management, displays, flexible keyboards and other fields. InPro has recently been involved in an IP tussle with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.

Also unlike UK rivals that mostly sold to enthusiasts and small businesses, Elonex focused on larger opportunities, building networking skills and setting up corporate, government, defence, health and education units. The company even sold systems packaged with the NextStep operating system that was later sold to Apple and now underlies recent Macintosh operating systems.