More Time shops shut

Is that 35 or 41 this year?

Time Computers is shutting more of its TimeTalk mobile phone shops this week.

The company says the announcement is part of its strategy, clearly outlined during several press briefings and statements, for handling the consumer PC sales downturn.

It is adding TimeTalk branded sections to its Time Computers, rather than having standalone stores.

The news was a surprise though to some Time employees who contacted The Reg to tell us their shop was closed down today.

So, how many stores are shut and where were they?

It's a good question, and one which should be easy to answer. However Time top brass doesn't seem to be sure.

At the start of April Time shut eight TimeTalk outlets.

Sales director Colin Silcock says 13 Time Talk stores have been closed in total, meaning that an additional five have stopped trading this week.

But this contradicts another Time statement which says 11 stores will shut this week, on top of the eight which closed at the start of April.

The Time employees who got in touch thought the total for this week would be 12. But what do they know... they were surprised that their own branch had closed.

Time's statement today says: "As indicated previously, the company has merged TimeTalk within its Time Computer sales operation. This had resulted in the planned closure of 19 TimeTalk stores at the beginning of the year. Eight of these were closed at the beginning of April and 11 stores continued trading with PC sales until after the busy Easter period. These have closed this week.

While there will be some staff leaving employment this week, no new redundancies are being announced.

This is in line with the company's announcement made earlier in the year regarding merger of TimeTalk with Time Computers."

The Reg is unaware of any occasion where Time has announced redundancies as part during the store closure programme.

The 13 stores Colin Silcock says have closed this month are: Basingstoke, Bath, Cheltenham, Dundee, East Kilbride, Huddersfield, Leamington Spa, Lincoln, Luton, Newcastle (Eldon Square), Taunton, Bromley and Ealing.

In addition to these store closures, the eight remaining Time concessions within Office World stores will shut in September. These are located in Tottenham, Oxford, Leicester, Portsmouth, Chelmsford, Colchester, Portsmouth, Gateshead, Blackpool, and Glasgow. ®

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