I passed on the information from PowerTools and Fixings Direct (their sister
company) that ToolNet were alive.

This was and is (apparently) true. But there is a twist (which in hindsight
is not very surprising).

I went to PT&FD to pick up my studs, to meet some men loading the entire
stock into lorries. They'd gone bust this week.

Apparently Tool-Net aren't bankrupt technically being separate (this is 2nd
hand info) but caution might be advised assuming they are run by the same
guy. This could do with checking for factual accuracy - were does one go to
see a list of companies in receivership - Companies House?

I've kept it to the minimal statements of fact as were relayed to me
verbally. I don't think it fair to pass speculative gossip on a public
forum...

Cheers

Tim