Poor old Oric is still in limbo. The receiver, Dennis Cross, had a meeting with Barry Muncaster, ex-chairman of Oric and Edenspring Investments, last week, but it wasn't possible to close a deal.

Mr. Muncaster is currently involved with a French syndicate which has put in a bid for Oric. The syndicate has the backing of Oric's French distributor, ASN, but Mr. Cross sees Olivetti's intervention in Acorn as evidence that he could get a better offer for Oric.

To this end he'll be placing an ad in the Financial Times.

If you have a seven figure sum to spare you'd best keep a lookout.