Yup, we buy all our TR spares from them.

You are right, they went into receivership, basically due to utter incompetence of management. They went on a spending spree, buying all sorts of non-car related businesses, and forgot to keep an eye on their core business - MGs and TRs. The MX spares range was one attempt to spread the market, and it was a good one too - but then they dropped the ball by trying to make the Rover 600 a target for the Rice Boy Racers - for Gossakes, the Rover 600??? It's an old man's car. They also ran down stocks, dropped the quality of their repro parts, and it all started sliding to the poop shute.

The thing that blew it was the Armstrong purchase. It was actually a good strategic move, as they were Armstrong's biggest customer (after Taxi drivers) for lever arm shock absorbers. Trouble was, they over-valued it, overspent, and the car spares market contracted. There was a big fire at the main London warehouse, and there was talk of insurance fraud before the receivers were called in. At this point, there were an awful lot of worried MG and TR owners around - they were the biggest suppliers bar none.

It all ended happily; the original partners who set up Cox and Buckles (well, Pete Cox anyway) bought the business at a bargain basement price from the receiver (he had been forced out in political shenanegins by the incompetents who crashed the company). He chopped a lot of rubbish, re-started the spares program, improved stock levels and quality, and re-focussed on the original market. They are now making good money and have turned a decent profit this year. There's an awful lot of London taxi drivers breathing freely now that they can buy shock absorbers again

Just goes to show what a decent manager with real focus can do, eh Hugo?

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015