FIFTY jobs have been lost in York, after an international software company went into administration.

Only three employees remain at Pindar Systems, of Innovation Close, Heslington, to "tidy up" the books, administrator Stephen Quinn said today.

The Evening Press reported in later editions yesterday that the firm had collapsed.

Mr Quinn, of Baker Tilly, said today: "It has ceased to trade. The company spent a lot of money on research and development and new products were coming on stream, but not fast enough. Principal funders were not prepared to put any more money in."

The amount of debt has yet to be assessed, although financial accounts for 2002 show that the company has accumulated losses of £12 million, offset by share capital worth £14.5 million.

Pindar Systems, which described itself on its website as "the recognised leader in multi-channel commerce", specialised in developing content management and catalogue production software.

When it split from its printer and publisher parent, the Pindar Group of Scarborough, in a management buyout in 2001, it retained the Pindar name and had the backing of about £8 million of venture capital. It also kept its former parent group as a customer.

But the dreams - and money - which powered its breakaway finally ran out last Friday, when staff were informed that they were being made redundant.

Andrew Pindar, chairman of Pindar Group, which produces catalogues for major enterprises like Littlewoods, said he was now interviewing former employees of the crashed firm for up to 20 jobs.

Mr Pindar, who was a private shareholder in Pindar Systems, also revealed that he had bought from the administrator the intellectual property of the vital software which it uses for catalogue preparation.

Updated: 10:30 Friday, March 19, 2004