Major music business closes while a famous Scottish football club is saved – and more
You might be reading this just before you go on a well-earned summer break or maybe getting back into your routine after enjoying one.
Whatever you or your staff are up to, we hope you’ll take a few minutes to catch up on all the important and interesting insolvency and business news stories from the past seven days you might have missed.
So if you want to know why CCJs against businesses are up a third on last year already; what directors can do if they’re struggling with high business energy costs; what the single-use vape ban means for traders and retailers; why more accountants are being asked to provide ESG services and how you can give your business a summer boost – you can read all these stories and more at our advice centre page.
Play Music Today – PMT
One of the UK’s largest retailers of musical instruments has gone into administration and closed 11 physical stores with immediate effect.
S&T Audio which traded as Play Music Today (PMT) sold musical instruments and equipment in stores and had an e-commerce platform PMT Online.
The stores were located in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford and Romford.
96 positions have been made redundant with another 48 retained to assist the administrators.
The company faced a variety of challenges that impacted their financial performance.
Competitive pricing of musical instruments had shrunk the margins of top-branded equipment while fragile consumer confidence was impacting sales of high-end products.
The company was also impacted by the ongoing industry-wide upward pressure on fixed costs, including rent, business rates and staffing costs.
Additionally following a number of recent insolvencies across the sector, credit terms had tightened which had ultimately had a detrimental impact on their cashflow.
Directors explored the options available to them including sales, refinancing, investment or restructuring but with no viable solvent option available, their only option was administration and a sale of company assets.
Is That It?/UK Service Plan
A Manchester company that sold monthly and annual plans to cover services to household appliances has been wound up in court for using high pressure sales tactics to target the elderly and vulnerable.
UK Service Plan Ltd offered payment protection plans for white goods that were meant to cover the cost of callouts, replacement parts and labour if they went wrong. They charged £29 a month for a service plan with some people taking out lengthy agreements of up to three and five years.
The company pressured people via cold calls into buying plans by offering a discount which they falsely claimed was only applicable if they paid on the day.
The Insolvency Service received 14 complaints from customers all aged 71 and over. Seven were vulnerable with conditions such as Alzheimer’s or dementia. Three were cold called despite being registered with the Telephone Preference Service. Six had direct debits set up without their permission and three were told they were existing customers when they were not.
Insolvency Service Chief Investigator Mark George said: “UK Service Plan Ltd targeted and pressured some of the most vulnerable people in our society. They were persuaded into buying a service agreement, which it appears many didn’t need or want.
“Being able to shut this company down is a vital step toward protecting the public from becoming victims of their bad business practices.”
The company wasn’t represented at the hearing and didn’t defend the petition with the company’s director – Mohamed Anoir Dhimi – giving an undertaking to the court not to be involved in the promotion, formation or management of any company whose business is in the same or a similar field for a period of eight years.
Mr Dhimi did not fully co-operate with the investigation and provided limited information to the Insolvency Service. In addition, the company failed to maintain accurate records and accounts the company filed at Companies House contained potentially false information.
Totally
A listed health business headquartered in Derby is appointing administrators after attempts to secure a solvent sale proved unsuccessful.
Totally plc provided frontline healthcare, corporate fitness and wellbeing services across the UK and Ireland and supplied healthcare expertise to the NHS’s 111 service. The group emphasised that its businesses would continue to serve patients as normal while administrators work on a strategic review with the aim of strengthening the company’s balance sheet to meet the liabilities of the group over the coming months.
The company lost the NHS contract in February
As a result, the board has requested a suspension of trading in the company’s ordinary shares on the AIM with immediate effect prompting the resignation of their nominated adviser and broker Canaccord Genuity with immediate effect.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle CVA
Scottish football club Inverness Caledonian Thistle have exited administration following an agreement with creditors to a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).
As a result the club will retain their place in League One of the Scottish Football League for the forthcoming season.
A statement from the joint-administrators on behalf of the club said: “Once the final costs are determined and the relevant dividends paid to creditors then the CVA process will be brought to a close. It is anticipated that this process will conclude in early July 2025.
“What that means is that it effectively brings the administration process to an end. The club will now operate under the CVA for a period we expect to last for a maximum of 28 days.
Leicester Road FC
A Midlands football club has confirmed that they have gone into voluntary liquidation.
Leicester Road FC finished 10th in the Northern Premier League Midland Division but hope to rejoin the league as a new club in time for next season.
A statement from the club said the decision does not affect any of the youth or junior teams that continue to operate and play at the Leicester Road Stadium in Hinckley.
“A new entity will be formed to apply to re-join the National League System as a phoenix to the former and it is hoped that senior first team football will be re-established for this coming season under new leadership.
“The current economic climate has created many additional challenges on top of the traditional headaches that come with running a successful semi-professional football club. We have tried to absorb these challenges rather than pass them on to our loyal supporters but day to day operating costs have spiralled out of control and revenues have dropped significantly.
“We have a core of very hard-working staff but both retirements and several recruitment failures in key positions has left us in a position where we simply cannot continue to operate at this level of intensity.”
Prevista
A long-established London training provider has gone into voluntary liquidation following a Department for Education investigation.
Prevista Ltd was founded in 1996 and held publicly funded training contracts for apprenticeships, adult education and employment support from the Greater London Authority worth more than £1 million per year alongside the national AEB contract with the DfE.
In their latest Ofsted inspection from 2023 they were rated as “requires improvement” due to concerns about off-the-job training and subcontracted provision but inspectors found the company was making “significant progress” during the follow-up inspection.
Chapel Bank Engineering
An engineering company in Workington has ceased trading and gone into administration with the immediate loss of 130 positions.
Chapel Bank Engineering had been working in various sectors for more than 80 years including the defence, nuclear, oil and gas, renewables, steelmaking and construction industries.
Trading as TSP Engineering, they faced increasingly tougher market conditions over the past 18 months leading to increased financial pressures and debt.
The company was purchased by Jingye Steel in 2020 before being placed into administration in 2022. The firm was then rescued by GMET Engineering, a local family-owned business based in Silecroft.
Unfortunately the firm has continued to suffer financially in recent years due to the pandemic, a reported loss of staff through retirement and “historic issues from lack of investment by previous owners”.
The business was sold to another engineering firm last year but “despite the efforts of the management team and advisers, investment was not forthcoming and ultimately the company had had to cease trading” the company said in a statement.
Cobra Mobile
An innovative mobile games creator based in Dundee has gone into liquidation.
Cobra Mobile were founded in 2005 and one of the pioneers in the market producing games that sold millions of copies including Storm In A Teacoup and iBomber on Apple, Android and making games for platforms such as Steam and Nintendo.
The company had been nominated for multiple BAFTAs and won several other awards including a European Games Award.
Founder Mark Ettle said: “We have made a tonne of great games, won a lot of awards and been nominated for loads more. We had business commendations for the way we operated and worked.
“But there are things in business you simply don’t control and events you cannot foresee. We had one thing on top of another – a cascading waterfall of bad outcomes.
“There is the recent sudden death of our chairman Peter Mackintosh, we’ve had clients go bankrupt on us during projects, leaving us hugely in debt. There has been a downturn in the sector, which has made it harder for us to operate moving forward with the roadmap we wanted to follow. This has all hit us at the same time. It is really sad, but it has been a fun ride too for the last 20 years.”
Eight staff have been made redundant as a result.
Halliday Clark
A Yorkshire architectural practice which completed an array of modern homes, cultural venues and public facilities is going into voluntary liquidation after 32 years of trading.
Halliday Clark was formed by David Halliday and Adam Clark in 1993. The company moved into their own self-designed offices in Ilkley in 2018.
Their designs include the Centre for Creativity at the Theatre Royal in Wakefield; converting a nightclub into the boutique Ilkley Cinema; various projects at Bradford Grammar School and revamping the clubhouse at Harrogate Golf Club. They also refurbished and extended the Grade II* listed Saints Parish Church in Ilkley.
Both principals left the practice after a management buyout in 2022. Adam Clark said: “It is a massive shame. After nearly 30 years, we sold the practice in May 2022 in very good health but it seems to have struggled since our departure.”
Johnston & Area Community Transport
A community bus operator in Renfrewshire has gone into liquidation with “great sadness”.
Johnstone & Area Community Transport was formed in 2023 to provide a community transport service in the area because of the poorness of the local buses.
A statement from the company posted on social media from Director John McBarron said: “It is with great sadness that we have appointed an agent to oversee the liquidation of our small company.
“Rising costs and cash-flow problems have led us to make this difficult decision due to our critical financial position.
“We are incredibly grateful for the loyalty of our passengers and also thankful to Renfrewshire Council and The National Lottery Fund that together supported us with £35,000 of funding. We additionally personally contributed double this to the company but after working for a year without pay, we can no longer sustain the financial burden.
Plant365
A Lincolnshire horticultural firm has gone into administration putting 28 positions at risk of redundancy.
Plant365 was founded in 2017 and supplies high-quality plants across the berry, asparagus and top fruit ranges to home garden stores and wholesale professional growers’ markets.
A statement from the company said: “The appointment of administrators follows an application to the court by one of its principal creditors due to the non-payment of monies owed and concerns over the continued trading of the company’s business.
“The administrators will assess the company’s financial position and explore all available options to achieve the best possible outcome for creditors, employees and other stakeholders.”
Brian Taylor & Sons
A Nottinghamshire based haulage firm has gone into administration and ceased trading with immediate effect, with the loss of over 90 positions.
Brian Taylor & Sons had been operating for over 50 years from a base in Huthwaite.
The company provided transport, storage and international freight services but had been negatively impacted by sector-wide issues including reduced demand and inflation in recent years.
Directors looked to take steps to secure the future of the business but unfavourable market conditions have led to unsustainable commercial losses and was not possible to secure a future for the company.
CMO Group
A Plymouth-based building materials supplier has been acquired by a competitor in a pre-pack administration process.
CMO Group had filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator but Lords Builders Merchants, one of the UK’s largest specialist distributors of building materials, have acquired their trade and assets.
All trading activities will continue uninterrupted under the new ownership with no job losses or redundancies required.
CMO was formed in 2008 and grew to become one of the UK’s largest online building materials sellers and one of Plymouth’s most significant companies.
Summertime also means halfway through the year
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Get in touch with us today and together we can work to make 2025 a truly memorable year.