Retailers face having to pay thousands of pounds for a system they cannot use after Big Media Group Ltd went into voluntary liquidation.

The in-store marketing and media service company has debts of £672,000, while its assets are understood to be about £16,000. The Milford Haven-based

outfit - also responsible for the launch of BigOil.net in 2004 - had screens at 230

sites, most of which are owed an average of £2,000. Some of the unluckier ones are owed more, like the David Taylor Group which is down on the insolvency practitioners’ report for £10,387.

Jaz Bhui is one retailer who signed up with the business, renting a screen at his Blagrove service station in Swindon. He said: "I feel that from day one we were misled. The advertising package wasn’t what we understood, and we only realised something was wrong after they stopped answering the phone. We eventually found out what had happened through someone else. We don’t even know how much is owed to us because it was never made clear how many ads were going up."

Meanwhile, Jaz says that he wasn’t told the rental agreement for the screen - £2,000 a year - was with a separate finance company.

He added: "We have about another year left on the rental for equipment we can’t use. I’ve contacted the finance company but obviously now my concern is that I’ll have to continue paying for the system. I’m hoping they’ll feel sorry for us and just take the screens away."

At the creditors meeting the Inland Revenue and Finance Wales gave Big Media director Darren Briggs a hard time for not declaring his company insolvent sooner.

See Service Centre page 16.