Ex-staff at failed Harrogate firm Amvoc set for liquidation payouts

Staff at failed Harrogate company Amvoc are likely to receive some payment following its collapse, administrators have said.

However, HMRC and unsecured creditors are unlikely to receive any money due to a lack of property.

The telemarketing company, which was based at Cardale Park, collapsed and was placed into administration in March this year.

Staff were left shocked on March 17 when they received a late night email from chief executive Damian Brockway saying “all our offices are closed with effect from tonight”. It went on to blame “covid debts”.

In a report published today, Gareth Lewis, Lewis Business Recovery and Insolvency, said the company would work to make a payment to staff as part of the administration process.

As part of the process, former employees are classed as “ordinary preferential creditors”.

However, HMRC, which is classed as a “secondary preferential creditor”, and unsecured credits are expected to receive no money.

Mr Lewis said:

“A dividend to ordinary preferential creditors appears achievable.

“However, it appears that there will be no property available to enable a distribution to secondary preferential or unsecured creditors.”

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The company owed £1.2 million to HMRC, which included unpaid VAT, unpaid employees PAYE and national insurance, student loan deductions and industry scheme deductions.

In an administrators’ statement of affairs last week, it was also revealed Amvoc owed £546,534.71 to former employees against assets of £302,802.63.

It also has £868,267 worth of unsecured creditors. Among them is Hemel Hempstead-based data marketing firm, Aura Media Group, which is owed £154,467.38.

Mr Lewis said administrators would now work to make a payment to preferential creditors.

High staff turnover and winding up petition

Mr Brockway set up Amvoc, the trading name of A Marketing Vocation Ltd, from a small office in Dacre in 2010. It sold telemarketing services, initially in the legal sector, and grew rapidly, moving first to Pateley Bridge and then to large offices at New York Mills near Summerbridge.

It opened a new head office on Cardale Park in Harrogate in 2015, a facility in Leeds in 2018 and an office in Manchester in 2022.  It also had plans to expand to London.

At the time of its collapse, Amvoc employed 230 staff.

Mr Lewis said in his report that in September 2017, the company entered into a company voluntary arrangement as a result of “cash flow difficulties” because of the loss of a major customer and “significant bad debt”.

He helped the company pay its creditors claims in full with interest, which was completed on March 31, 2020. However, this coincided with the start of the covid pandemic.

Gareth Lewis and Amvoc

Gareth Lewis of Lewis Business Recovery and Insolvency.

Mr Lewis said the nature of Amvoc’s trade was such that it had “high fixed overheads”, a high staff turnover and that it was not equipped for the pandemic.

He said:

“It had a constant high turnover of employees, regularly having 20-30 employees leave and start each month.

“It was not equipped at the outset of the pandemic to facilitate working from home and also could not operate safely in the ‘call centre’ environment.”

In August 2020, despite the easing of restrictions, Amvoc’s offices were closed by Public Health England after 50 staff contracted coronavirus.

Meanwhile, many of the company’s customers held back on projects due to uncertainty of the pandemic. This led to the firm being unable to generate sales from telemarketing.

Between, April 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, Amvoc reported a pre-tax operating loss of £1.7 million.

The following year, the company reported a pre-tax profit of £350,000. However, this was not enough to pay off debts.

Mr Lewis said:

“This was insufficient for the company to meet its debts as and when they fell due, most notably HM Revenue and Customs, who by this stage had increased pressure on the company.”

On March 13 this year, Mr Lewis attended Amvoc’s offices to discuss the company’s financial position.

He then contacted HMRC, who had indicated they would be passing a file to its solicitors to issue a winding up petition. This was formally issued on March 16.

The following day, a company director took the decision to inform staff that the company would no longer be trading.

Staff were told by Mr Brockway on March 17 that all Amvoc offices would be closed.

Amvoc’s clients included BP, Barclays, Virgin Media, Leeds Beckett University, and both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.

Twenty-three former employees found work with Brighton-based One-Family, which was a former customer of Amvoc.

Meanwhile, Law firm Aticus said in the days after Amvoc’s collapse it had been contacted by 145 former employees.

The law firm said it was investigating the circumstances of the company’s collapse and concerns around how the redundancy process was managed, as well as whether ex-staff are eligible to claim for compensation. 

Business Breakfast: Harrogate beauty brand records improved profits

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A Harrogate-based hair and beauty brand has recorded strong profit results for the last financial year.

CloudNine, which is based at Hornbeam Park, reported a turnover of £35 million and pre-tax profits of £8.6m – a 20% rise on 2021 – for the year ending December 2022.

The firm, which employs more than 60 staff at its headquarters in Harrogate, has credited its results to a combination of continued growth in the UK, significant growth in Australia and New Zealand and the strengthening of its online and in-store presence.

Martin Rae, chief executive of CloudNine, said: 

“This is a very pleasing set of results which cements our position as one of the world’s leading hair and beauty brands.

“We are very proud of everything we have achieved, with the ultimate aim of providing the tools to help people feel like the best version of themselves, which is what we are most passionate about.

“We are also very passionate about the environment. We launched the industry’s first hair iron recycling scheme, which has saved over 2,800kg of hair styling tools from landfill so far.”

Business networking event to be held in Boroughbridge

A networking event is set to be held for businesses in Boroughbridge.

Held at the Crown Hotel on Thursday, June 15, the session will focus on supporting local firms.

It will also include guest speakers Alison Laws, business relationships manager at York and North Yorkshire Growth Hub, and Alice Ingram, business engagement manager at West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

The event will start at 5.30pm with refreshments and networking and will include a question and answer session.

For more information on the event, contact the Boroughbridge and District Chamber of Trade here.

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Business Breakfast: Local firms sponsor Harrogate International Festivals

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Two Harrogate companies have announced sponsorship contracts with Harrogate International Festivals.

Harrogate Family Law, which is based at Victoria Avenue, has signed up as premier partners for the festivals alongside Rudding Park, Nicholls Tyreman and Theakston.

Meanwhile, IT company Croft Communications has agreed to be communications partner for the event.

Andrew Meehan, managing director at Harrogate Family Law, said: 

“We are delighted to be renewing as a premier partner and supporting the festivals for another year. Harrogate International Festivals is renowned for putting on a selection of world class entertainment with some of the best industry talent.”

Sharon Canavar, Harrogate Festivals Chief Executive, pictured with Mark Bramley, CEO at Croft Communications.

Sharon Canavar, Harrogate Festivals chief executive, pictured with Mark Bramley, CEO at Croft Communications.

Mark Bramley, Croft Communications chief executive, said: 

“As a new sponsor, our business is proud to be playing a part in the line-up of exciting events Harrogate International Festivals is due to be hosting.

“We look forward to seeing the amazing cultural experiences brought to life in Harrogate this year.”

Company sponsors Boroughbridge Junior football team

A Boroughbridge company has agreed a sponsorship deal with a local junior football team.

The Martin Bell Partnership, which provides strategic and practical support for healthcare, has sponsored Boroughbridge Juniors Under-16s boy’s football team.

It will see the squad wear the company logo on their kits next season.

Borougbridge Juniors Under-16s.

Borougbridge Juniors Under-16s.

Martin Bell, owner of the company, said: 

“I am delighted to be able to support the team with sponsorship. They have had a solid year and can look forward to the new season with a strong squad of local lads who love their football. 

“The new kits will provide a boost to the players and give them confidence as they compete in the Harrogate and District Junior League and regional cup competitions.”

Chris Fahy, Boroughbridge Juniors FC chair added: 

“Without the support of the community and sponsorship from organisations like The Martin Bell Partnership we would not have such a thriving club, so we thank them for their support.

“That support allows us to provide football experiences for more than 150 children at the club aged six to 18 years.”

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Call for entries as In Bloom contest returns across Harrogate

Hotels, pubs, restaurants, care homes and communities are being called on to be part of a floral competition in Harrogate for the first time since before the pandemic.

Harrogate in Bloom (HIB) has launched its annual contest for businesses and community organisations this summer.

It will be the first time the competition has been run in full since 2019, after being called off in 2020.

HIB member Mary Mann, who helps to organise the competition, told the Stray Ferret:

“We couldn’t meet or go round to see the gardens during covid.

“We did a small competition last year, but we’re determined it’s going to get back to normal this year. We used to have masses of entries before covid.”

The competition has four categories: bars and restaurants, hotels and guesthouses, residential communities, and communal gardens.

The latter is aimed at public places such as churches which have outside space, while residential communities are often blocks of flats with communal gardens.

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The size of the garden is not important in any of the categories – the judges will be looking at the way the space is maintained and the use of flowers, including those in containers.

Each entrant will be judged against RHS criteria and given an award for the standard it achieves, from a certificate of merit up to a gold award. A winner will be announced in each category in September.

Judging will be carried out by Chris Beard and Roger Brownbridge, both experienced Yorkshire in Bloom and Harrogate in Bloom judges.

To find out more about the competition, or enter by the deadline of June 30, click here.

Meanwhile, Harrogate is also gearing up for judging in the regional Yorkshire in Bloom contest.

Members of HIB and other organisations have been working hard to ensure the town is shown off at its best over the summer, maintaining its long tradition of success in floral competitions.

Harrogate BID, meanwhile, has been selected for Britain in Bloom after winning gold in last year’s Yorkshire Contest. The business organisation will be supported by members of HIB to prepare for judging.

Business Breakfast: Harrogate hotel group recognised in national workplace guide

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A hotel company which runs three hotels in the Harrogate district has been listed in a Sunday Times workplace guide.

The Inn Collection Group has been recognised as one of the best places to work in the national guide for 2023.

The firm, which operates the Harrogate Inn, Knaresborough Inn and Ripon Inn, was included alongside organisations such as the Alzheimer’s Society Bella Italia, and Octopus Energy.

The inns were previously known as the St George Hotel, the Dower House and Ripon Spa Hotel.

Local companies CloudNine and LCF Law were also recognised.

Liz Robertson, people director at the Inn Collection Group, said:

“We’re delighted that our people are enjoying their time with ICG and that we have been officially recognised as a great place to work as a result.

“Supporting our teams is incredibly important for us, be that with our exciting development programmes, our Inn Safe Hands initiative or even just our excellent benefits package.

“Making people happy is what we are about and that extends to our own too.”

Ripon retailers organise bank holiday buskers

Retailers in Ripon have organised for buskers to perform in the city centre this coming bank holiday weekend.

Organised by Ripon Business Improvement District and independent businesses, performers will be situated around the streets to draw in more people to the centre on Monday, May 29.

Visitors will be invited to follow a route around the city, taking in Kirkgate, North Street and Westgate.  

Little Bird Artisan Market will be on the marketplace.  From there, visitors can find maps showing the streets where buskers will perform and where shops are hosting fun activities and special offers.

Busking is throughout the city all afternoon, with music from Ripon and visiting guests from Teeside, York and Leeds. 

For more information on the event, visit the Ripon BID website here.

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Business Breakfast: Harrogate care provider opens Huntington’s disease unit

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A Harrogate care provider has invested in a specialist unit for people living with Huntington’s disease.

Vida Healthcare opened the new unit at its Vida Court home, based on Beckwith Head Road.

Called Lindsay House, the facility will provide space for nine people and include a sensory room, medication management, as well as community services such as a GP.

James Rycroft, managing director at Vida Healthcare, said:

“At Vida we are always looking into gaps within the care industry and subsequently identified a lack of support available for people living with Huntington’s disease.

“Our ability to adapt and meet other specialist needs is one of our greatest assets, and we wanted to use this expertise to expand our offering and support more people living with long term conditions.”

Harrogate company launches electric vehicle charger and app

A Harrogate company has launched an electric vehicle charger and free app to improve access to charging points.

Ivie, which is based at Beckwith Knowle, created the charger to help drivers charge their car at home.

Mike Woodhall, chief executive of Chameleon Technology.

Mike Woodhall, chief executive of Chameleon Technology

Meanwhile, the company said the app will allow people to set up a charging schedule and control the 7kw charger remotely.

It will also help users find public charging points and show whether they are available.

Mike Woodhall, chief executive of Chameleon Technology, which owns ivie, said:

“Adoption of EV technology is a major component in helping to drastically cut carbon emissions, supporting the UK’s goal of transitioning to more sustainable motoring by 2030.

“However, ongoing frustrations around infrastructure and reliability remain and we are aiming to address these with a ‘truly smart’ app alongside our EV charger to encourage faster adoption amongst motorists.”

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Business Breakfast: Harrogate law firm partners with Alzheimer’s Society

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A Harrogate law firm has announced it has extended a partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society for another year.

LCF Law, which is based on Station Parade, will work with the charity to help create wills for people who wish to donate to the society in their will.

The firm has worked with the Alzheimer’s Society for several years and works with dozens of people every year to draw up their will for free, in exchange for a donation to the charity.

Neil Shaw, head of personal law at LCF Law, said: 

“After promoting this partnership to many organisations and community groups throughout Wharfedale, we have had plenty of interest from local people keen to donate or leave a bigger legacy in their will to the charity.

“We also have a similar partnership with Cancer Research and it’s a great way of supporting two charities that make a real difference to so many people.”

Harrogate Town awarded family excellence status

Harrogate Town has been awarded English Football League Family Excellence status for the first time.

The scheme recognises the continuous improvement and best practice that emerges across the league and rewards clubs for their efforts in attracting and retaining young supporters.

It will see the club receive two visit assessments each season, in order to determine the quality of the family matchday experiences they provide.

On the award, Hamilton Mattock, fan engagement manager, said:

“We are really pleased to receive the Family Excellence status; this is a testament to all the hard work everyone within the club has put into making Harrogate Town a family friendly experience on a matchday.

“This is only the beginning of the journey as we strive to continue to improve our supporters match day experience while continuing to improve on our facilities and touchpoints.”

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Business Breakfast: Masham brewery hires new sales managers

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A Masham brewery has made two new appointments as part of growth at the company.

T&R Theakston has hired new recruits in its sales department.

Cameron Bell and Zak Spence have joined the brewery as sales development managers and will be tasked with focussing efforts on northern cities and North Yorkshire.

On joining Theakston, Mr Spence said:

“As a proud North Yorkshireman, I’m delighted to be working for such a well-known business which combines a strong heritage with exciting future focused plans.

“Taking over from Barry means I have some big shoes to fill but I am definitely looking forward to working with our customers to continue to deepen the strong relationships that he fostered.”

Mr Bell added:

“I’m looking forward to be working for Theakston and helping to drive forward its growth plans.

“There are plenty of exciting developments in the pipeline this year, which provide the perfect opportunity to increase awareness and availability of the brewery’s beer range across Northern cities and introduce our diverse range of products to new consumers.”

Simon Theakston, joint managing director at Theakston, said:

“We started 2023 with the announcement of growth within our team and, following a busy first quarter, we’re pleased to be further expanding as we look to deliver on our growth ambitions for this year and beyond.

“It’s wonderful to welcome both Cameron and Zak to our T&R Theakston family at such an exciting time for the business, as we prepare to launch more seasonal beers, announce new partnerships and continue to look toward to our bicentennial celebrations in 2027.”

Mercedes-Benz car dealer wins retailer award

A car dealership with an outlet in Harrogate has won an award for retailer of the year.

JCT600, which has a Mercedes-Benz dealership on Leeds Road, won the prize from the car manufacturer for outstanding performance.

The team at JCT600

The award was based on performance in car sales, customer service, approved used car sales, workshop retail hours and customer retention.

Gary Savage, chief executive and managing director, Mercedes-Benz Cars UK, said: 

“JCT600 performed consistently strongly across all areas of the business and the team’s collaboration was nothing short of outstanding, with remarkable engagement and positivity.”

Pictured above: Gary Savage, chief executive and managing director, Mercedes-Benz Cars UK; James Knowles, JCT600 Mercedes-Benz head of sales; Michelle Caveney, JCT600 Mercedes-Benz brand director; James Jarman, JCT600 Mercedes-Benz head of business – York; Joe Tordoff, JCT600 Mercedes-Benz head of business – Harrogate; and host, broadcaster Dermot O’Leary.

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Business Breakfast: Harrogate businesses recognised as ‘best places to work’

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. Our next networking event is after-work drinks at Manahatta, on May 25th at 5:30.

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Two Harrogate businesses have been recognised in the Sunday Times “best places to work” guide.

Cloud Nine and LCF Law made the list, which surveys the opinions of employees from hundreds of businesses operating in every industry sector across the UK.

Both firms were recognised in the medium-sized companies category, which looks at businesses who employ between 50 and 249 people.

Some 200 companies are listed in the Sunday Times guide, including Brewdog, Pizza Express and David Lloyd Leisure.

Martin Rae, chief executive at CloudNine.

Martin Rae, chief executive at Cloud Nine.

Martin Rae, chief executive at Cloud Nine, said:

“We have an exceptional team who deserve a great place to work. This is why we have recently spent a lot of time focusing on and investing in the whole experience our employees have here at Cloud Nine.”

Simon Stell, managing partner at LCF Law, said:

“These nationwide awards select the best places to work based solely on the results of an employee survey. Not only is the process incredibly insightful, but it’s also a great way of benchmarking our culture, our colleague engagement and how valued our team feel.”

Knaresborough car dealership signs insurance

A Knaresborough car dealership has agreed a major insurance deal with a national company.

Redline Specialist Cars, which is based at St James Business Park, has signed the deal with Provenance Insurance Brokers.

It will allow Redline clients to obtain private client motor insurance and associated insurance services through the Redline Specialist Insurance brand.

John Graeme, finance director at Redline, said:

“The team at Provenance went to great lengths to understand our business and culture, and we’re excited to build a long and successful partnership, bringing our clients market-leading protection for themselves and their prized possessions – from cars, houses, fine art, jewellery, commercial insurance and even extending to bespoke life insurance cover.”

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Business Breakfast: Boroughbridge company celebrates long-service staff milestone

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A Boroughbridge company is celebrating reaching a milestone as 200 employees have now worked for the firm for 10 years.

Reed Boardall, which is based off Bar Lane, was founded in 1992 and has gone onto become one of the biggest employers in the area with 745 staff.

The company operates in food logistics and reports a turnover of £66 million.

As well as over a quarter of staff having completed more than ten years of service, 31 have chosen to stay with the company for two decades or longer.

Andrew Baldwin, managing director of Reed Boardall’s cold storage division, said: 

“There’s no doubt that our high staff retention levels play a key role in the continued success of the business and our ability to consistently deliver on our promises to our customers. We don’t use any agency workers, instead all of our team are long term employees, many of whom have built up valuable understanding and knowledge about what we do and this gives continuity to the business, enabling us to be the reliable, responsive partner that our customers need.

“This constancy of approach is reinforced by the high numbers of family members all working here across the generations- we have numerous husbands and wives, a mother and daughter and several dads and sons as well as a husband, wife and father in law. What makes us unique is that we have the same staff, providing the same levels of service – it is all about the people and we’re proud that so many of our team choose to stay with us.”

Harrogate financial firm launches rebrand

A Harrogate financial services firm has launched a rebrand.

FinancialForce, which is based at Cardale Park, has renamed itself as Certinia.

The company was co-founded in 2009 by local businesswoman Deb Ashton.

The firm has gone onto employ more than 1,000 people at offices across five countries.

Speaking about the rebrand, Scott Brown, chief executive of Certinia, said:

“FinancialForce was the perfect name when the company was founded in 2009 describing its intent to deliver ERP on Force.com.

“Over the past decade, the company invested heavily to become the most trusted PSA solution in the market.

“Now, we have expanded our ERP leadership with the addition of FP&A, and recently launched new products in two additional markets with Customer Success Cloud and Services CPQ. Together, these are a comprehensive and tightly integrated platform for services businesses. It was time to ensure our name and brand align with all we do in the marketplace today.”

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