Refusal to connect electricity costs firm dear
Recently-resurrected manufacturer Plasplugs was unable to ship as much as £100,000 worth of orders in June because it has been unable to get its power switched on.

Plasplugs went into administration in March this year, owing more than £5m in bank loans against a turnover of £18m a year. However, Stuart Turner and his son Neale, both former directors of the firm, acquired the business and assets of Plasplugs through their newly formed company Turner Intl Limited (TIL).

The firm was due to start trading again almost immediately with up to a third of the previous workforce. However, it was prevented from trading and manufacturing by a lack of power, which made using computers and telephones impossible and even stopped workers opening the front doors.

According to local newspaper The Burton Mail, the problem lay with an electricity broker rumoured to have been demanding a £48,000 bond before reconnecting the supply.

Recent reports, however, suggest that the company may have had a change of heart and that an electrician has subsequently called Plasplugs to arrange switching the power back on.