Beatties of London
Encyclopedia
Beatties of London was a model
retail company of the United Kingdom
, not to be confused with the Beatties
department store group.
in the West Midlands
. The company had an e-commerce website. Due to the increase in children's video games, the model chain began to run into financial trouble.
On 14 March 2001 the company was placed into administration
by its parent company ERA Group. Alan Bloom and Chris Hill, partners at Ernst & Young, were appointed as joint administrative receivers by Barclays Bank, at the request of Era. The shares of Era Group, which Beatties made up the largest part of, were suspended from the AIM list on 27 February 2001. In October 1999 some stores began to close. In July 2000 34 of the 60 stores were closed, and Era Group attempted to raise £5m through a share issue to help pay creditors. In March 2001, 13 of the remaining stores were sold to turnaround specialists Hilco, and the final 13 stores were closed, at the cost of more than 100 jobs. Modelzone
has since acquired many of the former Beatties stores. A museum-quality collection of heritage transport toys called "The Beatties Collection" was auctioned by Phillips with a reserve price of around £50,000.
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
retail company of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, not to be confused with the Beatties
Beatties
Beatties is a British department store group with 7 stores located primarily in the Midlands of England. In 2005 James Beattie was acquired by House of Fraser, then having 12 stores. On , the Birmingham store closed, due to the uneconomical aspects of having two similar House of Fraser owned stores...
department store group.
History
The retail company Era Group plc owned Beatties by the end of its days as a retailer. By the late 1990s Beatties had 60 stores, in locations including the MetroCentre, Gateshead, and the Merry Hill Shopping CentreMerry Hill Shopping Centre
Westfield Merry Hill is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number...
in the West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
. The company had an e-commerce website. Due to the increase in children's video games, the model chain began to run into financial trouble.
On 14 March 2001 the company was placed into administration
Administration (insolvency)
As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on running their business. The process – an alternative to liquidation – is often known as going...
by its parent company ERA Group. Alan Bloom and Chris Hill, partners at Ernst & Young, were appointed as joint administrative receivers by Barclays Bank, at the request of Era. The shares of Era Group, which Beatties made up the largest part of, were suspended from the AIM list on 27 February 2001. In October 1999 some stores began to close. In July 2000 34 of the 60 stores were closed, and Era Group attempted to raise £5m through a share issue to help pay creditors. In March 2001, 13 of the remaining stores were sold to turnaround specialists Hilco, and the final 13 stores were closed, at the cost of more than 100 jobs. Modelzone
Modelzone
Modelzone Limited is a model and toy retailer based in West Sussex in the United Kingdom. The company has 39 stores, and is the UK's largest model retailer.- Beginnings as Model Aerodrome :...
has since acquired many of the former Beatties stores. A museum-quality collection of heritage transport toys called "The Beatties Collection" was auctioned by Phillips with a reserve price of around £50,000.