UK musical token

[Figleaf]

One look at the reverse and the forgone conclusion is UK gaming token.

Except that the company doesn't make games. It doesn't seem to have made juke boxes either. Anyway, 1971 would have been a bit late for that. What is the connection between electronics for sound studios and tokens?

Peter

[malj1]

That web page starts by saying the company was known as "Klark Equipment", a company that produced garage forecourt equipment; vending style vacuum cleaners, space heaters and other similar products.

This was previous to the time when the company changed to Klark Teknik, the company founded in 1971 by brothers Phillip and Terence Clarke. So the owners appear to have followed a new path with the audio equipment.

The tokens therefore must date circa 1971. Ralph Hayes lists it in his Machine Token book at #223 in the Amusement/Vending section.
His Supplement 5 adds the information 'Used for Car Vacuum equipment at service stations.'

at odds with the Wikipedia info is this item in...  THE LONDON GAZETTE, 5TH OCTOBER 1986

KIDDERMINSTER GARAGE EQUIPMENT LIMITED
(Trading as Klark Equipment Limited)
Notice is hereby given, pursuant to section 588 of the Companies
Act 1985, that a Meeting of the Creditors of the above-named
Company will be held at The Birmingham Chamber of Industry
and Commerce, on Tuesday, 21 st October 1986, at 11.30 o'clock,
in the forenoon, for the purposes mentioned in sections 589 and
590 of the said Act.
By Order of the Board.
P. Maughan, Secretary
24th September 1986. (481)

and on the  10th Nov...

KIDDERMINSTER GARAGE EQUIPMENT LIMITED
(t/a Klark Equipment)
At an Extraordinary General Meeting of the above-named Company,
duly convened, and held at Wareing & Co., Second Floor, Rqyd
House, Suffolk Place, Birmingham Bl 1LR, on 21st October 1986,
the subjoined Extraordinary Resolution was duly passed:
" That it has been proved to the satisfaction of this meeting that
the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business,
and that it is advisable to wind-up the same, and accordingly that
the Company be wound up voluntarily, and that Richard George
Wareing, of Wareing & Co., be and he is hereby appointed
Liquidator for the purposes of such winding-up."
(496) P. Maughan

[Figleaf]

Very convincing, Malcolm.

The info is not at odds with Wiki, but a standard business practice. For each"family" of products, there was a separate working company, probably al owned by a holding company. The garage equipment's working company was KIDDERMINSTER GARAGE EQUIPMENT LIMITED, probably fully owned by Klark Equipment Ltd and trading under the name Klark Equipment.

When Klark decided to stop making garage equipment and concentrate on sound equipment, they allowed KIDDERMINSTER GARAGE EQUIPMENT LIMITED to go under in an orderly way: Wareing (maybe the corporate lawyer) paid off the creditors and other debts, fired any staff, sold the remaining belongings and handed over the remaining cash to the owners.

The legal structure is to insure that in case of bad trouble (say the vacuum cleaners were shown to cause cancer) other product lines would not be legally affected. KIDDERMINSTER GARAGE EQUIPMENT LIMITED could have gone broke disorderly without endangering Klaerk Equipment.

Peter