Business as usual for Smartbox directors

Tec Rentals, run by three former directors of collapsed screen media company Smartbox, is continuing to provide its customers with content update discs for the system.

Smartbox and parent company Vision Leisure Services went under in November owing large sums to hundreds of licensees tied into onerous three-year finance deals.

The directors behind Tec Rentals are former Smartbox managing director Kate Venables, finance director Neil Orton and operations director Amanda Alston , and the company is registered at the same Sutton Coldfield address.

Tec Rentals rents TV equipment such as big-screen TVs and Smartboxes direct to pubs, so unlike original Smartbox deals, there is no third-party finance agreement.

In a letter to licensees, Tec Rentals promised to provide service, maintenance and channel content via discs and to continue the Yourbox service, which allows licensees to play their own ads on the system. It has not offered to pay customers for showing the advertisments on the discs. The service is only being offered to Tec Rentals customers.

Julian Barfield, of Talgarth's New Inn in Brecon, Powys was owed about £2,000 by Smartbox when it went bust. He hires a plasma screen, Smartbox and monitor from Tec Rentals for £75 a week.

Smartbox was supposed to pay him £50 a week for showing discs containing advertisements.

"This is absolutely incredible," said Barfield. "It seems that they have closed the arm of the company that was supposed to pay out and continued with the other. I stopped my payments last week.

"The Smartbox hasn't even worked for six weeks."

Managing director Kate Venables said: "Tec has updated its customers. Tec Rentals is not providing its customers with the Smartbox channel."