Chris Dodkin
West Coast Correspondent
More than £500,000 of camera equipment from a high street chain which was forced to close is to be auctioned.
The stock belonged to Cecil Jacobs, of Braunstone, which went into administration this year after a slump in trade.
Failed Leicester firm Cecil Jacobs' stock up for sale | This is Leicestershire
The failure of the 73-year-old family-run business – once the UK's largest independent camera chain – led to the loss of 150 jobs and the closure of 19 stores.
More than 2,000 items will be offered to online bidders next week.
The money from the sale will go towards paying off more than £1 million of debts owed by the business when it went under in June.
Mike Hanson, of auctioneer Jones Lang LaSalle, in Nottingham, said: "It's never good to see an established family-run company go out of business, especially when jobs are lost.
"But we're confident of realising a substantial amount from the sale of a wide range of high-quality electronic products.
"There were a lot of factors working against the firm and we hope some positives can come from the sale by finding new homes for a vast array of goods.
"We're braced for substantial interest throughout the five-day online auction and would expect to sell the vast majority of lots on offer, to both domestic and foreign buyers."
The items include a Leica M9 camera, which retails at more than £5,000.
There will also be hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of SLR and digital cameras and lenses from brands such as Sony, Panasonic, Leica and Sigma.
Joint administrator Eddie Kerr, of PKF in Leicester, said former staff, suppliers, landlords and the Revenue & Customs were owed money by the business.
He said: "The more money that comes from this sale, the more that will be available to creditors."
Administrators announced in late June they had been unable to sell the business as a going concern.
Business leaders blamed the company's collapse on competition from quality camera phones, lower-cost supermarkets and online retailers.
The firm's store in London Road, Leicester, stayed open for a few weeks until last month to allow stock to be sold.
Bidding will open at 10am on August 28 and continue until 10.30am on September 4.
The auction will take place at:
Jones Lang LaSalle | Machinery and Business Assets | Current Plant, Machinery, Business Asset Sales
The stock belonged to Cecil Jacobs, of Braunstone, which went into administration this year after a slump in trade.
Failed Leicester firm Cecil Jacobs' stock up for sale | This is Leicestershire
The failure of the 73-year-old family-run business – once the UK's largest independent camera chain – led to the loss of 150 jobs and the closure of 19 stores.
More than 2,000 items will be offered to online bidders next week.
The money from the sale will go towards paying off more than £1 million of debts owed by the business when it went under in June.
Mike Hanson, of auctioneer Jones Lang LaSalle, in Nottingham, said: "It's never good to see an established family-run company go out of business, especially when jobs are lost.
"But we're confident of realising a substantial amount from the sale of a wide range of high-quality electronic products.
"There were a lot of factors working against the firm and we hope some positives can come from the sale by finding new homes for a vast array of goods.
"We're braced for substantial interest throughout the five-day online auction and would expect to sell the vast majority of lots on offer, to both domestic and foreign buyers."
The items include a Leica M9 camera, which retails at more than £5,000.
There will also be hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of SLR and digital cameras and lenses from brands such as Sony, Panasonic, Leica and Sigma.
Joint administrator Eddie Kerr, of PKF in Leicester, said former staff, suppliers, landlords and the Revenue & Customs were owed money by the business.
He said: "The more money that comes from this sale, the more that will be available to creditors."
Administrators announced in late June they had been unable to sell the business as a going concern.
Business leaders blamed the company's collapse on competition from quality camera phones, lower-cost supermarkets and online retailers.
The firm's store in London Road, Leicester, stayed open for a few weeks until last month to allow stock to be sold.
Bidding will open at 10am on August 28 and continue until 10.30am on September 4.
The auction will take place at:
Jones Lang LaSalle | Machinery and Business Assets | Current Plant, Machinery, Business Asset Sales
