Celltalk calls in administrators

TWO thirtysomething Liverpool entrepreneurs who aimed to become one of Britain's top three sellers of mobile phones saw their dreams in tatters today as Celltalk called in the administrator to its main trading business.

Richard Marsden and Jess Meredith-Watts still own more than 75% of the equity which was worth £28m when they brought it to the Alternative Investment Market in June 2000. Today Celltalk shares, which once hit 138 1/2p, halved in value to just 2p, valuing the company at less than £600,000.

Celltalk, which trades under the name Clubmobile, sells fashionable mobiles to a customer base of 350,000 customers via its website serviced by a call centre in Manchester. It continues to trade and non- executive director Richard Wollenberg, chairman and chief executive of Cardiff Property, said the directors were optimistic that all creditors could be paid.