Ellies comes to a halt as staff are locked out of company's systems

Daniel Puchert

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It's over for Ellies Electronics

Ellies is dead. After 45 years, the electronics company founded by Ellie Salkow in 1979 effectively stopped operating on Friday, 12 July 2024, MyBroadband has learned.

A well-placed source who spoke on condition of anonymity said all staff were offered voluntary retrenchment packages on 5 July, with severance capped at eight weeks’ pay.
 
“Staff had no choice. They’ve all been coerced and put under duress to sign voluntary retrenchment,” the source said.

This does not seem very kosher at all. Sure the staff can take this further.

In the article we can see some more instances on how much the government cares for private companies. Zero.

The company became a firm favourite among investors who were excited about its involvement in providing set-top boxes in partnership with Altech UEC as part of the digital terrestrial television (DTT) roll-out.

On the back of the hype, Ellies’ share price peaked at an all-time high of over R9.50 per share in May 2013.

However, as the government fumbled the DTT migration, interest in Ellies and its prospects faltered.

And then there is the wonderful business practices of monochoice by fixing their subscription losses by increasing their prices and showing less and less “watchable” content.

A few years later, DStv’s subscriber numbers stagnated and began to decline in South Africa, and that part of Ellies’ business also suffered.

But then, unfortunately, what is the case of situations like these with companies are mismanagement and poor decisions.
Think that the owners/ ceo/ management should be held responsible for the loss of income for the employees and loss of the company.

Ellies’ financial results quickly revealed a company that loved making excuses more than hard work and making money.

Instead of improving its operations and building a sustainable business, the Ellies management tried to acquire themselves out of financial failure.

Negotiating a multi-million rand deal is much easier and more pleasant than the hard work involved in fixing and running a business.

However, the debt would be over five times its market capitalisation and more than its net debt of about R183 million at the end of its last financial year.
 
Ouch, I feel for all those employees, especially the guys that have been there for decades. Moral of the story: Don't work for a business in business rescue.

I feel like Ellies was perfectly poised to profit off not only DTT but loadshedding alternative power options. They seem to have seriously bungled something along the way. I wonder what happened behind the scenes?

I suppose someone some time will write a book about the internal struggles that brought all this about...
 
This does not seem very kosher at all. Sure the staff can take this further.

In the article we can see some more instances on how much the government cares for private companies. Zero.



And then there is the wonderful business practices of monochoice by fixing their subscription losses by increasing their prices and showing less and less “watchable” content.



But then, unfortunately, what is the case of situations like these with companies are mismanagement and poor decisions.
Think that the owners/ ceo/ management should be held responsible for the loss of income for the employees and loss of the company.
The company is bankrupt. The owners / shareholders have lost their money and in some cases livelihood.
The people making the poor decisions will have a hard time finding jobs again.
 
Sjoe, such a sad story. Times are hard but the CEO should be ashamed to show his face if he's been there longer than 5 years. Wonder what his CTC was.

EDIT: and staff listed in post #8. Bet they aren't suffering financially.
 
This does not seem very kosher at all. Sure the staff can take this further.

In the article we can see some more instances on how much the government cares for private companies. Zero.



And then there is the wonderful business practices of monochoice by fixing their subscription losses by increasing their prices and showing less and less “watchable” content.



But then, unfortunately, what is the case of situations like these with companies are mismanagement and poor decisions.
Think that the owners/ ceo/ management should be held responsible for the loss of income for the employees and loss of the company.
You cant blame DSTV for Ellies' downfall. Ellies should have diversified more, but didnt. That was their downfall, and they started getting quote expensive, so that a lot of business went via Chinese imports.

Its not just the owners but the staff that work there too. Changes couldve been suggested and new things could have been done.

But honestly its nothing new. You can buy identical stuff on Temu at a discount. Why buy local?
 
I wish that in every article they post about Ellies that they could take the time to:
1. Tell us when it was founded
2. Tell us who founded it
3. Tell us how it was founded
4. Tell us how it grew

I don't think I could ever get tired of reading about their history on every article where their name is mentioned.
NOT.AT.ALL.
 
Its not just the owners but the staff that work there too. Changes couldve been suggested and new things could have been done.
The problem I have is the following, not specific to this company:

Cleaners clock in on systems like the kak ersbio, and have to work their full day. If they have an opinion they should keep it to themselves.
IT workers the same.
Sales the same.

Management? No they play by different rules.
 
I wish that in every article they post about Ellies that they could take the time to:
1. Tell us when it was founded
2. Tell us who founded it
3. Tell us how it was founded
4. Tell us how it grew

I don't think I could ever get tired of reading about their history on every article where their name is mentioned.
NOT.AT.ALL.
Same feeling I have for "X formally known as Twitter"
 

The Ellies Electrical brand will live on after SMD Technologies acquired it following the liquidation of the parent group, Ellies Holdings.

According to various media reports on Friday, SMD – which owns or represents a number of consumer electronics brands in South Africa including Volkano and Sony – has acquired the storied Ellies brand, which is known for its wide range of electrical products, from surge protectors to multi-plug adapters and load shedding backup solutions.
 
The problem I have is the following, not specific to this company:

Cleaners clock in on systems like the kak ersbio, and have to work their full day. If they have an opinion they should keep it to themselves.
IT workers the same.
Sales the same.

Management? No they play by different rules.
Very much so.
 
The problem I have is the following, not specific to this company:

Cleaners clock in on systems like the kak ersbio, and have to work their full day. If they have an opinion they should keep it to themselves.
IT workers the same.
Sales the same.

Management? No they play by different rules.
Yeah, front office are the business and back office are support.

Support are easily replaced.
 
Can they legally cap severance?
They can cap voluntary retrenchment amounts since the person affected has a choice and they can reject it if they don't like it. The problem is if the business goes under and there is not enough money for regular severance payouts, then they may get very little. This is why people may go for the voluntary one even if it sucks.

Now waiting for the article about what happens with things like their pension and PAYE contributions.
 
They can cap voluntary retrenchment amounts since the person affected has a choice and they can reject it if they don't like it. The problem is if the business goes under and there is not enough money for regular severance payouts, then they may get very little. This is why people may go for the voluntary one even if it sucks.

Now waiting for the article about what happens with things like their pension and PAYE contributions.
Both of the last would be illegal if impacted. Pensions are paid to a scheme as well as SARS for tax. Misallocation or non declaration of those are criminal offenses.

Existing pension etc should be fine as long as its with a reputable company.
 
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