LONDON (Reuters) - The maker of Airfix plastic tanks, planes and ships that generations of children have struggled to glue together fired most of its staff on Thursday and filed for administration.
Humbrol Ltd., the UK-based owner of the miniature military models, said its problems partly stemmed from a sales slump caused by children spending more time in front of their personal computers and television.
The company, which makes kits for assembling miniature war planes, passenger jets, Japanese infantry soldiers and historical figures such as Henry VIII, had fired 31 of its 41 employees, administrator Grant Thornton said in a statement.
The intellectual property and brand names, which also include Plasticine, Supercast and Young Scientist, are up for sale, the administrator said.
Founded in 1939 by Hungarian businessman Nicholas Kove, the company, which had annual sales of about 10 million pounds, faced cash problems and disruption supplies caused by the insolvency of its main supplier, Heller SA, based in France.
"As a consequence of the uncertainty of product supply, deliveries to customers are being limited to despatches from current stock lines and ongoing trading is extremely restricted," Keith Hinds, an administrator at Grant Thornton said.
i am sure most remember them and even spent many a evening trying to glue the right peices together as young boys.
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