News broke on Friday that UK independent distributors Tartan Films has gone into administration. Tartan’s closure reportedly leaves all of the company’s staff redundant and apparently affects both Tartan Films (theatrical) and Tartan Video (home entertainment) divisions. Reports says employees arrived for work on Thursday to find the London office doors shut and were informed later in the day by boss Hamish McAlpine that the company had closed for business.

Tartan has been one of the most well-regarded independent DVD labels over the last few years, with the extra yard taken with audio-visual presentation including DTS soundtracks pretty much as standard. The news will be a blow to DVD and Blu-ray collectors, with Tartan recently having adopted the hi-def format. It remains to be seen what will become of Tartan’s impressive back catalogue, that includes a host of cult and Asian cinema hits including Oldboy and Lady Vengeance.

Tartan’s US division was closed down earlier this month with its 100-strong back catalogue sold off to Palisades Media.

DVD & Blu-ray Review would like to offer our condolences to the staff of Tartan who now find themselves out of work and thank them for the sterling DVDs they have sent our way in recent years. We will bring you news of further developments as they happen.