Subscribe to trusted local news
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
31
Dec 2023
Last Updated: 28/12/2023
No 1: The biggest firms to run into trouble in 2023
In this article, which is part of a series on the 12 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2023, we look at some of the larger companies that ran into difficulties over the year.
What could loosely be termed “economic headwinds” have caused trouble for thousands of companies around the UK in recent years, and in 2023 the storm hit several large local employers.
Some were rescued, but others sank without trace. Here, we take another look at some of the bigger companies that hit the rocks over the last 12 months.
Amvoc
Back in March, as many as 230 people lost their jobs after Harrogate telemarketing company Amvoc crashed into administration.
Amvoc’s clients included some big names, such as BP, Barclays and Virgin Media, as well as the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.
But administrator Gareth Lewis, of Lewis Business Recovery and Insolvency, said in his report that the company had entered into a company voluntary arrangement in 2017 due to “cash flow difficulties” because of the loss of a major customer and “significant bad debt”.
Amvoc's former head office on Cardale Park in Harrogate.
Amvoc paid off the bad debt, but only just in time for the start of the covid pandemic. The company, which had unusually high staff turnover – 20 to 30 employees left and started each month – couldn't cope with lockdown, and even after restrictions were eased, its offices were closed by Public Health England in August 2020 after 50 staff contracted coronavirus.
Meanwhile, many of Amvoc’s customers held back on projects due to uncertainty caused by the pandemic, leading to an unsustainable trading position.
Farmison
In April, high-end butcher Farmison went into administration, threatening the jobs of its 100 or so employees. This time, though, the story had a happier outcome.
The Ripon-based firm, which was founded by John Pallagi and Lee Simmons in 2011, had an impressive client list that included Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges and Michelin starred restaurants.
Major cashflow problems saw it fall into administration with debts of £7 million, but it was quickly bought out of administration by a consortium led by Andy Clark, former chief executive of Asda, for an undisclosed sum.
Farmison is now back in business, with a leaner staff of 60 under former Marks & Spencer managing director Andy Adcock as chief executive. It relaunched its Cut by Farmison butcher’s shop at its Ripon headquarters earlier this month, plans to open more shops in a bid to diversify, and aims to increase annual turnover to £20 million.
Black Sheep Brewery
Challenging economic conditions were also behind the difficulties that corralled Black Sheep Brewery into administration in May.
The Masham company headed off what it called a “local employment catastrophe” by selling out to London investment firm the Breal Group for £5 million, saving about 50 jobs, including that of chief executive Charlene Lyons.
Black Sheep Brewery's CEO, Charlene Lyons.
Ms Lyons said that Black Sheep was not the brewing industry’s first casualty and warned it would not be the last. Speaking in June, she said:
“In the last 12 months, 45 breweries entered insolvency in the UK, a three-fold increase on the previous year, as the cost-of-living crisis has squeezed household disposable income.
“This has had an extreme and adverse effect on all brewers’ sales, at a time when their own costs and inflation are high. Black Sheep has not been immune to these factors, leading it to the administration process. It is highly likely that many more will follow in the coming months.”
Ilke Homes
Around 1,100 people lost their jobs when Ilke Homes collapsed into administration in June, owing nearly £400 million to more than 300 creditors.
The company, which manufactured modular housing in a huge factory at Flaxby, near Knaresborough, had been toasted as a stand-out success story on the region’s business landscape.
Established in 2017, it built up a client base that included major institutional investors, housing associations, developers and local councils.
In 2021, Ilke Homes raised £60 million in investment, and a year later, it raised a record-breaking £100 million from new and existing shareholders, following successive years of triple-digit growth.
But despite a healthy-looking order book, it eventually ran into financial difficulties it attributed to “volatile macro-economic conditions and issues with the planning system”.
The company said it needed additional funding to build its £1 billion pipeline of 4,200 new homes, but that wasn’t forthcoming, and so it was forced to fold.
Most creditors saw little or nothing of their investment, including government-owned Homes England, which is believed to have received just 0.01% of the £68 million it was owed.
The demise of one of the area’s largest employers was naturally not without drama. More than 600 employees took legal action over the way the redundancy process was managed, hoping for compensation of up to eight weeks’ pay.
And in August – just two days after the firm’s assets had been auctioned by administrators – thieves stole “a large amount of equipment” from its factory, just off junction 47 of the A1(M). Bizarrely, they even refused to leave the site and continued to load up vehicles, even after the police arrived on site. Investigations are believed to be ongoing.
Read more:
- No 11: Curzon closure does not signal the end of cinema in Ripon
- No 10: Harrogate becomes political battleground in 2023
- No 9: River Nidd pollution and politics take centre stage
0