Number of firms hit by downturn
Jan 7 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal
Recent administrations and liquidations
THERE has been a raft of administrations in recent months including Woolworths, MFI, Adams and, locally, Arctic Windows and the Officers Club.
The collapse into administration of crystal and china maker Waterford Wedgwood this week put 2,700 jobs at risk in the UK and Ireland.
A Christmas Day rent bill of £3.5m led to the administration of the Cramlington-based Officers Club, but within hours the company’s management refloated the company under a new name TimeC 1215 Limited .
The move saved 900 jobs, although 32 of the 150 stores, including those with the biggest rent bills in the region at the MetroCentre and in Sunderland, were closed.
Days before Christmas Near Zero CO2 Ltd, which employed between 10 and 15 people manufacturing eco-friendly prefabricated homes for self-build projects went into liquidation. When it ceased to trade, from its base in Hadston near Morpeth, it owed £716,678 to its creditors and had assets of £9,317.
Simon Lundy and Andy Haslam of Begbies Traynor in Newcastle were appointed as joint liquidators of the company.
Mr Lundy said: “A lack of business and obviously the problems of the property market have affected it. There has been a lack of funding – it needed more to be able to sustain itself.”
In October The Comfort Food Company, based in Pudding Chare, Newcastle, went into liquidation, owing more than £100,000.
