Balham Optics (south London) Liquidation (ADDED: plus info on successor)

[Steven Tribe]

I have heard from two sources that the only "jobbing" lens workshop in the UK has gone into liquidation. Does anyone else have further information? Although I have never used them, it seems sad that the various grinding and polishing equipment and the associated skilled craftsmen may be lost for ever.

Indeed it is true:

"Publication Date: Friday, 8 October 2010

Notice Code: 2443

Appointment of Liquidators

Company Number: 02670258.

Name of Company: OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS (BALHAM) LIMITED.

Previous Name of Company: Speed 2243 Limited.

Nature of Business: Optical equipment manufacturers.

Type of Liquidation: Creditors.

Address of Registered Office: 257b Croydon Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3PS.

Principal Trading Address: 39 Neville Court, 27/43 Neville Road, Croydon, Surrey CR0 2DS


Liquidators' Names and Address: Tommaso Ahmad and Paul Bailey, both of Bailey Ahmad Limited, 257b Croydon Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3PS.


Office Holder Numbers: 9475 and 9428.

Case Manager: David Perkins, Tel. 0208 662 6070 E-mail: dperkins@baileyahmad.co.uk

Date of Appointment: 29 September 2010.

By whom Appointed: Members and Creditors.

(1220075) "

[GPS]

I can imagine that their service was not in great demand these days. A firm like this cannot live on joyful astro-amateurs alone. Good that we have at least Custom Bellows...;-)

[GPS]

It seems that before it went bust it sold customers lenses that were there for a repair... at least according to an alert at World photography forum...? Google Balham Optical.

[Steven Tribe]

It appears that all of the production assets were already disposed of (to another optical organisation) at the end of October.

I agree that the market for "amateurs" like us must be small but there are a lot of custom-made ciné objectives within the film industry which need CLAs quite often.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

My experience with Balham three or four years ago was so bad, and the service they provided was so poor, that I am surprised they made it this far.

[Pete Watkins]

I've never heard of the company, but as an ex North Londoner I can confirm that they're all crooks south of The River, ask any black cab driver (excepting Silverprint, I think that they're run by North Londoners).
Pete.

[Tony Lakin]

A couple of years ago I purchased a 210mm Computar on Ebay for a very reasonable price, when it arrived from the US the optics were cloudy so I sent it to Balham optics where they had to seperate two of the elements, clean of the old balsam and re cement I also had them multicoat the front element, I was delighted with their service, quality of work all at very reasonable cost (approx. £80) so it wasn't all bad.

[seananton]

I too had only good service, on three occasions, from Balham Optical over the last few years, they will be very much missed.

Seán

[Phil Hudson]

My only experience was a lens re-cement job that took over a year and about 20 phone calls to get the lens back. I sensed at the time (1-2 years ago) that the company was not long for the modern world. Still, the job got done in the end....

[spkennedy3000]

Is there anywhere left in London that can do things like multicoating?