Vertu

Vertu was a British-based manufacturer and retailer of luxury handmade mobile phones, established by Finnish mobile-phone manufacturer Nokia in 1998. In October 2012, Nokia sold Vertu to private equity group EQT VI for an unspecified amount,[1][2] but retained a 10% share.[3] By the end of 2013, the company had around 350,000 customers, and phones were on sale in 500 retail outlets, including 70 run by the company.[4] In 2015, it was announced that EQT had sold its share of Vertu to Godin Holdings, a Hong Kong-based holding company.[5][6] In March 2017 Godin Holdings sold to Baferton Ltd. a Cyprus-based Turkish company. In July 2017, the new shareholders applied to a court for bankruptcy protection, the company went into voluntary liquidation after plans to save it failed and Vertu Corporation Ltd was put into liquidation, leaving its residual staff of 200 unpaid and unemployed.[7] Vertu AK France is the parent company of Vertu Corporation, through which the Vertu brand and company continues its business today. In May 2020, the factory and office complex in Church Crookham, empty since July 2017, was demolished to make way for a retail park.[8]