This has just happened, but it doesn’t seem to be making national news as much as it’s making local news here in Yorkshire. Empire Direct was a Leeds based firm with a big online presence, and had 14 UK stores in places such as Leeds, Wetherby & Derby. The stores have all been closed straight away once the administrators stepped in yesterday.

We wrote not so long ago about the problems that Dan H had when he tried to order a washing machine online, but was met with really poor customer service. Was the writing on the wall back then, and was this the signs of a badly run company? I know we all keep hearing about the credit crunch and the recession but it’s certainly weeding out those companies that have overtraded over the years and run their companies on a knife edge without any fall back plan if trading conditions changes. This obviously doesn’t help the people who have ordered goods from Empire Direct recently, including Kean my designer, who had treated himself to a new tv … lucky it was paid on credit card so will hopefully get the money back.

It makes me laugh though as Gordon Brown keeps going on about getting the economy moving again, and to buy goods, but its getting so uncertain as to who will fall next then where is it safe to buy any goods unless you can walk into a shop and take it away with you. It’s not even safe to buy cars anymore, as Becky is learning as she bought a 58 plate Honda Civic back in September and now Honda are stopping production for 4 months and our local Devries Honda garages have got the receivers in.

My predictions for the next to fall are the DSG group (Curry’s, Dixons & PC World) or the Home Retail Group (Argos & Homebase) .. but B&Q are also said to be wobbling too. The high street is going to be full of boarded up empty shops.