Buy-out rescues E-street directory

E-STREET.COM, the online directory that collapsed owing £4.6 million to creditors and investors, has been rescued by a management buyout.

Directors Barnaby Oswald and Toby Robertson paid £15,000 to salvage its name and database containing details of thousands of companies.

The directory was founded in 1998 by brothers Alex and Barnaby Oswald, who raised £120,000 from friends and family. After two further rounds of private funding, the website was launched in 2000, providing free information on shops, restaurants, businesses and services.

But the collapse in the tourist trade and online advertising saw revenues plummet and it went into voluntary liquidation in May this year.

Glynn Mummery, liquidator at insolvency practitioner Redhead French, said the old company will be wound up with investors unlikely to get back any of their money.

Oswald and Robertson plan to get E-street.com online as soon as possible and are likely to seek partnerships with major internet companies.