Totem Communications, a Manchester-based provider of inbound call handling services, is up for sale after Matthew Dunham and Dermot Power of BDO Stoy Hayward were appointed Joint Administrative Receivers last week.

No one from BDO Stoy Hayward was available at the time of writing to say why they had been called in, but the firm seems confident that it can broker a quick sale.

Totem Communications provides a range of inbound call handling services such as the provision of non-geographic numbers, recorded messages, 'virtual receptionists', and speech recognition to divert calls. Among the customers listed on its website are Bolton Wanderers football club, Gloucestershire NHS, and broadband ISP Pipex.

The business has an annual turnover of around £15m and continues to trade while the hunt is on for a buyer. It also has "considerable intellectual property", according to BDO Stoy Hayward.

Joint Administrative Receiver Dermot Power said: "There has been very strong interest in the company and approaches have already been made from other telecommunications businesses.

"I remain optimistic of securing an early sale of the business and the positive response from the employees and the customer base will help the process further." ®