Collapsed Flaxby firm Ilke Homes owed £320m to 300 creditorsIlke Homes, the modular house manufacturer based at Flaxby, collapsed owing nearly £320 million to more than 300 creditors.
The figures are revealed in a statement of affairs compiled by the administrators and published on the Companies House website yesterday.
The document said most of the debt – £227 million – is owed to “intercompany creditors”, which ultimately means the firm’s investors: Fortress Investment Group, Sun Capital Partners and TDR Capital, among others.
Homes England, the government agency that funds new affordable housing, is also owed more than £68 million, and HMRC is owed more than £2 million.
But much of the rest is owed to scores of small and medium-sized suppliers, mostly from the north of England, but some from as far afield as Glasgow, Kent and even Germany. Most appear unlikely to receive any repayment from Ilke’s assets.
The debts range from £6 to a Dewsbury hardware company to £1.8 million to a Warrington wall insulation firm.
Sixteen local creditors include Ripon plumbing supplies business Wolseley (£14,595), Thirsk-based steel supplier Tomrods (£13,871) and Knaresborough security firm K9 Patrol (£10,697).
A total of £724,614 is owed to 1,061 employees in the form of holiday pay and pension arrears – an average debt of £683 per person.
Ilke Homes, which was based close to junction 47 of the A1(M), went into administration in June, causing all 1,100 of its employees to lose their jobs.
Although it had a strong pipeline of more than 3,000 homes on order, the administrators, Clare Kennedy, Catherine Williamson and Deborah King of global consultant AlixPartners, said the firm had been hit by “unprecedented inflation and a lack of land supply linked to planning processes”, adding that “the business has not been able to secure the further investment needed to take it forward”.
The administrators were approached for comment about the newly-released statement of affairs, but have not yet responded.
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Kirkby Malzeard road reopens after three-year closure
A road linking Kirkby Malzeard and Masham has reopened three years after a collapsed section of wall caused its closure.
The reopening follows repair, reconstruction and reinforcement works costing almost £500,000 at the parish church of St Andrew in Kirkby Malzeard.
After heavy overnight rain in February 2020, part of the stone retaining wall for the churchyard fell onto Church Street, making it impassable.
The road, which runs past St Andrew’s and is part of a route from the village to Masham, remained closed up until last Thursday.
The reconstructed section of wall
Harrogate Borough Council initially earmarked £250,000 to fund the project, which was given planning approval in February 2022.
However, the final bill for the work was almost double that amount at £491,670 after council officials said the cost reflected the “volatile nature of the construction market at the moment”.
The increased cost is being funded from the council’s investment reserves.
A report to the council urgency committee in May said:
“The work was not able to be contracted until the planning process was concluded and permissions put in place.”
The repair works which followed came after residents and parish councillors frustrated by the delays, urged the council to end the “farce” of the church wall.
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CNG employees in ‘horrible situation’ regarding redundancy payoutsEmployees of the collapsed Harrogate energy firm CNG have described the uncertainty over redundancy pay as a “horrible situation” with Christmas just around the corner.
About 100 staff and chief executive Paul Stanley discussed the insolvency programme at an online meeting yesterday
Two different CNG employees, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Stray Ferret that staff had hoped to receive clarification about redundancy pay but were left disappointed.
They said staff had previously been told they would be paid redundancy by the company but that this was withdrawn. They were then told it would be paid by the government, but at yesterday’s meeting, they were not given answers on when this will be and how much they will receive.
One employee said:
“This is a huge kick in the teeth for those who have stayed loyal to CNG for many years”.
Another employee described the atmosphere of the meeting as “cold”. They added:
“We were plainly made to feel like a nuisance”.
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CNG ceased trading two weeks ago due to spiralling wholesale gas prices but administrators are yet to be appointed.
According to CNG’s annual accounts from October 2020, the company had, at the time, £36.7m in cash reserves.
Questions were put to Mr Stanley at yesterday’s meeting about what had happened to this money. One employee said Mr Stanley “swiftly avoided the question”.
The Stray Ferret approached CNG for a response but we did not receive one at the time of publication.
