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08
Aug
Liquidator files report into 'shambolic' Knaresborough Post Office saga
Creditors have been told they have “no prospect” of recovering any of the £378,000 owed by the collapsed company that ran Knaresborough Post Office.
Nottingham-based VPS PVT Ltd, which operated about a dozen post office branches including Knaresborough’s, appointed liquidators in June last year.
Its Knaresborough High Street premises had been repossessed two days earlier by landlord Depho Estates Ltd, which said it was owed £15,000 in rent and a further £25,000 in dilapidations.
Despite the scale of losses, which included more than a quarter a million pounds to HMRC, Post Office Ltd reappointed VPS’ sole director Ankur Singh, as its Knaresborough postmaster when the business reopened in new shared premises in the town.
Depho's enforcement notice in the old post office window.
The Stray Ferret reported widely on concerns raised by the local community last year. You can read more here.
Now joint liquidators Joseph Sadler and Andrew Cordon, of Corporate Finance Solutions, have published a statement of receipts and payments on Companies House.
It says HMRC was owed £253,528 for PAYE and VAT and other creditors were owed £124,618, although it adds it is still trying to finalise the exact sum.
The report says: "Based on current evidence there is no prospect of a distribution to any class of creditor in this matter."
The branch is now based in Pharmacy+Health on High Street.
The document says liquidators were told three trading premises had been abandoned, adding: “During the course of the administration of the liquidation a further 12 properties have come to light nationwide which have similarly been abandoned. A number of premises are subject to protracted discourse with landlords, utility providers and local authorities in an attempt to clarify tenure.”
Two employment tribunal claims from staff have been forwarded to the Redundancy Payments Service for consideration. The report adds:
The joint liquidators have also been made aware of possible breaches of employment regulations regarding minimum wage rates and appropriate details have been submitted to the Redundancy Payments Service as they arise.
Andrew Hart and colleague Asma Ola outside the Red Box in Starbeck.
Mr Singh undertook to make voluntary contributions to the costs of the liquidation capped at £5,500, “in view of the lack of funds,” according to the report.
Neighbouring postmaster Andrew Hart, who operates the Red Box in Starbeck, said the report “reflects how badly Post Office Ltd dealt with this whole shambolic issue”.
Mr Hart claimed “trust in Knaresborough Post Office has gone”
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