An adult-themed mini-golf venue closes and more

Summer has finally arrived although the weather hasn’t appeared to have gotten the memo yet. 

While we’re all waiting, you can 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 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.

House of Holes

An adult crazy golf venue that operated in Derby city centre has closed and gone into voluntary liquidation. 

House of Holes had operated on Babington Lane for over five years with several raunchy holes decorated with sex dolls and other paraphernalia. 

The owners of the venue where they were based has invested several thousands of pounds in upgrades to the site including creating a new karaoke room in the 10,000 sq ft premises and installing a 4K projector in the main bar area to stream football and other live sporting events to 250 fans at a time.

English Architectural Glazing

A UK cladding contractor and its manufacturing division have both filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.

English Architectural Glazing was one of four cladding specialists taken under the Clarison Group banner in 2021 to form a super facades business but had been a stand-alone entity since the end of 2024. 

The Clarison Group was majority owned by UK-based private equity fund Elaghmore. Their sister company Alucraft fell into administration in March 2023. The other two firms in the original Clarison Group were Wiliaam Cox and Alucraft Ireland Ltd.

The Clarison Group changed its name to TGCL in March 2024 before going into voluntary liquidation in July 2024.

A spokesperson for Elaghmore said: “Sadly, the challenging conditions in the UK construction industry has meant EAG has not been able to secure new contracts and trade profitably, despite considerable investment. 

“The Company sought new investment, but this process was unsuccessful. As a result the Board of EAG has applied to the Court to bring in administrators.”

Newcastle Community Asset Trust (NCAT)

A charitable trust that runs three community centres in Newcastle closed and handed back control over to Newcastle City Council blaming rising costs, reduced funding and the long-term impact of the Covid pandemic. 

The trust ran community hubs in Fawdon, Cowgate and Blakelaw, the latter of which also houses a Post Office branch. 

The Council had previously transferred them to the trust in the hope of securing their future at a time of budget cuts. 

The Blakelaw community centre was transferred to the trust in March 2016, the Cowgate centre in 2018 and Fawdon in 2019. These hubs housed community services including libraries, nurseries, youth projects, school holiday clubs, coffee mornings and food pantries. 

The centres welcomed over 200,000 visitors between them in the past year combined. 

A statement issued by the trust said: “After weeks of careful consideration, the trustees have taken the painful decision to close the charity. 

“In recent years, it has endured rising operational costs, reduced funding opportunities and the lasting impacts of the pandemic. Despite implementing cost-saving measures and seeking additional sources of income, we have been unable to reverse the long-term decline in our finances. 

“We appreciate this is upsetting but we are working closely with Newcastle City Council to try to ensure continuity for the buildings and their users. We hope that the council’s commitment to the ongoing operation of the buildings will provide some stability for the community. 

Newcastle City Council confirmed that all three centres “will remain open and accessible to tenants and residents as normal.

“It is our current intention that tenants who occupy dedicated spaces will be offered a Tenancy at Will and those who run classes within the buildings will be offered a room or a licence agreement.”

CCM Motorcycles

A specialist motorcycle manufacturer in Bolton has gone into administration after more than 50 years. 

CCM Motorcycles were founded in 1971 by Alan Clews as Clews Competition Machines. They received investment from a fund in 2021 to fund international growth but instead underwent redundancies so had 12 employees at present, down from more than 50 in 2021.  They had gone from making 300 bikes a year to 150. 

A statement issued from the business said: “This is a challenging time for everyone involved – our dedicated team, our loyal riders and the wider CCM community that has supported us over the years. 

“We are proud of the motorcycles we’ve built and the legacy we’ve shared with so many. We’d like to sincerely thank everyone who has been part of this journey.”

Elements Europe

A Telford based modular unit construction firm that had been operating for over 20 years has gone into administration. 

Elements Europe specialised in off-site volumetric design and manufacturing of room modules and bathroom pods for use in residential developments , student accommodation and hotels across the UK. 

Historically the business acted as a subcontractor providing room modules and bathroom pods to customers. In 2021, they expanded their offering taking on two construction projects as main contractors in Birmingham and Hackney, East London.

Unfortunately both contracts incurred losses resulting in a significant cash requirement. This led to directors seeking to explore options including a sale, additional investment or refinancing of the company but ultimately decided that administration was the only option left. 

A statement from the business was issued that said: “Sadly Elements Europe has not been immune to the headwinds facing the construction sector. Work will be paused at the ongoing contracts while options are explored to rescue all or parts of the Elements business.”

They confirmed that 141 employees had been made redundant with 76 retained to support administrators. 

Babease

An organic babyfood brand has ceased trading after being previously sold in a pre-pack administration deal in 2019. 

The directors of Babease have gone into voluntary liquidation with founder and managing partner of Babease owner Amitis Group Monica Monajem saying that the babyfood sector in the UK had been hit very hard in the aftermath of Brexit and Covid. 

Amitis is a wealth management and investment firm and claim they’d made heavy losses throughout their time backing the company after taking a majority stake in 2019. 

She said: “After years of hard work and huge capital investment, the business struggled to deal with several challenges including its packaging supplier going into bankruptcy, difficulty in sourcing ingredients, losing retailers and the cost of living crisis impacting demand. 

“All have led us into a position in which there is no commercial future and therefore, it is with great regret that and sadness that we had to go into liquidation.”

Babease was founded by chef Tom Redwood in 2016 to be a veg-led babyfood brand.

Summer arriving also means we’re nearly at the halfway stage of the year and there is still a lot of time for business owners and directors to make crucial improvements that will help their firms through the rest of 2025 and beyond. 

We offer a free initial consultation to anyone who needs professional and impartial advice on how they can bolster their businesses. 

So whether you’re eyeing expansion, consolidation or even survival – we’ll be able to help. 

The sooner you get in touch, the more options you’ll generally have and more importantly, the time to implement them. 

Get in touch with us today and together we can work to make 2025 a memorable year. Who knows? We might still even get a summer!