What the new tax year means for your money and inheritanceMystery surrounds Harrogate takeaway closureLiquidator files report into ‘shambolic’ Knaresborough Post Office sagaMackenzies Farm Shop and Cafe under new ownership

Mackenzies Farm Shop and Café has re-opened under new ownership.

David Suttill, from Harrogate, and Aissa Guessis, from Bradford, took over the Blubberhouses company and opened the doors for trading yesterday.

Mr Suttill, who worked as the café manager under the previous owners, said he hopes the new venture will “give something back to the community”.

He added:

“We’re just two hard-working guys.

“We’ve put our own touches on it and the new menu is launching next week.”

The re-opening comes after the former Mackenzies Smoked Products Ltd, trading as Mackenzies Smokehouse, went into voluntary liquidation in February – owing more than £1 million.

Clark Business Recovery was appointed to oversee the liquidation and found HMRC was among the 156 creditors. The company owed more than £45,000 for VAT, PAYE and National Insurance Contribution.

However, Mr Suttill told the Stray Ferret the smokehouse is “a different business” and is not part of the new ownership.

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Mr Suttill has previously managed Michelin star restaurants and said he is “well-known in the area” for his “fantastic” customer service.

His business partner, Mr Guessis, worked as a chef in London and at The Crown Hotel in Harrogate, and is now the chef at the café.

Mr Suttill added:

“We’re going to host lots of charity events too, we’re already planning a Christmas event.

“I’ve been in this business for many years – I know it – so it’s just going to be good food, good service and a focus on community.”

The farm shop and café will use both new and existing suppliers to sell locally-sourced produce, including meats, baked good and home accessories.

Mackenzies Farm Shop and Café is open seven days a week from 9am – 5pm.

HMRC unlikely to receive payment from Harrogate company collapse

Unsecured credits and HMRC are unlikely to receive any payment after the collapsed of failed Harrogate company Amvoc, administrators have said.

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

In a latest administrators report published this week, Gareth Lewis, Lewis Business Recovery and Insolvency, said it is anticipated funds will be available to pay former staff.

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

According to the report, employees are owed £233,507.52 in wages, holiday pay and pension contribution arrears.

Meanwhile, HMRC is owed £1.1 million in unpaid VAT, unpaid employees PAYE and national insurance, student loan deductions and industry scheme deductions.

Mr Lewis said in his report that it is unlikely that any repayment will be made.

He said:

“If funds are available to pay a dividend to the secondary preferential creditors, this claim will be adjudicated accordingly.

“However, at present, it is not anticipated that there will be sufficient funds to do so.”

Mr Lewis added that there was “no likelihood” that unsecured creditors, who were previously estimated to be owed £868,267, would receive payment. 

According to the report, equipment from the company’s old offices on Cardale Park, such as computers, desk and chairs, had now been sold.

‘Cash flow difficulties’

Damian 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.

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

Mr Lewis said in his administrator’s 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”.

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Employees to get little from Ilke Homes settlement, document reveals

A new document published by the administrators of failed housebuilder Ilke Homes has revealed that its debts are far greater than previously believed, and that employees stand to gain little from any settlement. 

Ilke Homes collapsed into administration in June, causing the loss of 1,100 jobs and leaving a long list of creditors wondering when they might get any money back – and how much they might receive. 

A Statement of Affairs published on the government’s Companies House website two weeks ago appeared to show that the company left debts of about £320 million, but it transpires that that figure applied only to Ilke Homes Limited (IHL), which is one of three companies currently in administration by AlixPartners. 

The other two, Ilke Homes Land Limited (IHLL) and Ilke Homes Holdings Limited (IHHL), were part of the same operation and have also left debts, of £52.8 million and £23.9 million respectively. 

The total combined sum of the three companies’ debts amounts to £397.95 million. 

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The document also details how much various creditors are likely to receive. For example, IHL owes 1,061 employees a total of £724,614 in the form of holiday pay and pension arrears – an average debt of £683 per person – but the statement lists this debt as being payable at “nil” pence in the pound, meaning they will get nothing. 

By contrast, secured creditors will receive the full amount owed to them. For example, IHL is expected to repay the whole of its £221,000 debt to Barclays Bank, but none of its £2.2 million debt to HMRC. In all, it is expected to repay £326,000, or just 0.1%, of its £321 million total debt. 

IHLL is expected to repay its debts to secured creditors Redlawn Land Ltd (£7.7 million) and Barclays Bank (£5.4 million) in full. Claims from HMRC of £279,743 and from former employees of £43,258 are also expected to be paid in full, but other unsecured creditors are expected to receive just £694,000 of the £39.4 million they are owed. 

In the case of IHHL, the amounts of repayments to unsecured creditors, who are collectively owed nearly £23.9 million, are listed as “uncertain”. 

The three Ilke companies collectively owe Homes England £68.7 million, a sum which appears on all three of their balance sheets due to a system of cross-guarantees. Of this debt, IHL will repay £105,000, IHLL will repay £1.005 million, and IHLL will repay just £30,000. In total, Ilke will repay just £1.14 million of its £68.7 million debt to the government agency. 

In all, the three Ilke Homes companies are expected to pay off £15,478,001 of their debts – or just 2.9% of the total. 

This story was updated on September 20. A previous version wrongly stated that Ilke’s total debts exceeded half a billion pounds. This was because the £68.7 million that Ilke owes to Homes England appears as a liability on the balance sheets of all three Ilke companies, as they have all guaranteed it, and so was counted three times instead of just once.