ITV Digital 'treasures' up for auction

12 April 2012

A SIGNED and framed photograph of Jeremy Beadle, a clutch of black Puffa jackets and a selection of kitchen spatulas are among the treasures up for grabs in the ITV Digital 'Sale of the Century' next month.

Embarrassingly for Carlton and Granada bosses, their digital venture is reduced to selling the family silver (or stainless steel cutlery) to find a few shillings to pay back creditors.

The public auction ( 4 to 5 September in London) is likely to be an uncomfortable experience for the executives, who have come under fire for wasting more than £1bn of shareholder funds on the venture.

Last week a slump in Granada shares wiped £500m off its market value. It will soon announce the 'early retirement' of chief executive Steve Morrison.

The ITVD auction catalogue reveals a collection of 'mustard leatherette chairs' and 'purple and turquoise laminate storage cupboards' more suited to an Austin Powers film than a company which hoped to take on the powerful BSkyB.

Other priceless treasures include a 'scrapbook of ITV Digital newspaper cuttings', a football referee's top, a signed photo of pop band Hear'Say and a 'potato oven'.

More alarmingly, ITVD is selling a selection of 'faulty laptop computers'. It seems it was not just subscribers who had to suffer a patchy service. Granada and Carlton investors will watch the sale for clues to where their money went.

Much was spent on technical equipment, likely to be auctioned to competitors at knockdown prices. The public may be more interested in the widescreen TVs, video recorders and more than 100 soft-toy monkeys.

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