Wilson Field has secured a new future for a Banbury headquartered events management company, which boasted clients including Crufts, Tour of Britain and Virgin London Marathon after it was bought out of administration.

ARB (Sound Vision Light Power) Limited was established in September 2014 and specialised in event hire including providing audio visual solutions equipment, hire and installation.

The company, which traded from Coton Cottage, Chacombe near Banbury, called in administrators from Sheffield-headquartered Wilson Field for formal insolvency advice.

The company, which has an impressive client list and relied solely on sub-contractors as and when needed, suffered VAT and HMRC issues as a result of a period of illness.

Kelly Burton and Lisa Hogg from Wilson Field were appointed as joint administrators on February 20 and concluded a pre-packaged sale of the business and assets for an undisclosed sum to ARB Motors Limited, lead by the same management team.

Kelly Burton, director and licensed insolvency practitioner at Wilson Field said:

Wilson Field was brought in to look at the situation of the business.

The focus on the company had diluted during a period of illness of one of the two directors. A debt was due to HMRC and a repayment proposal was rejected resulting in the need to protect the business and assets via a formal insolvency procedure.

The pre-packaged sale means the business, which was an established player in event management at large scale events, has a bright future moving forward.

The loss of a major employee’s input through illness can harm an organisation and it is important for businesses to seek help should this arise. Timing is essential to keep focus on the business.

ARB has combined experience of more than 100 years and provided hire equipment such as indoor and outdoor PA systems, single and double-decker commentary units, street sound vehicles, exhibition TVs, stage lighting and mobile power in both primary and secondary distribution.

Unsecured creditors owed money by a Derbyshire manufacturing company which went into liquidation are to receive a higher than the expected dividend of 60p in the pound.

A total in excess of £128,000 is due to be distributed to unsecured creditors of Whatstandwell-based Derwent Castings Limited, whose claims totalled over £192,000.

The company, whose roots date back to the 1940s, had traded profitably for a number of years but in late 2013 / early 2014 saw the cancellation of its largest sales contract which represented 70 per cent of its turnover.

Bosses at the company, which employed 16 staff including three directors, struggled to attract replacement business and had to drop prices. Further business was lost as a result of foreign competition.

Sheffield’s insolvency specialist Wilson Field was called in as liquidator and worked with the creditors’ committee of Derwent Castings Limited to secure the positive dividend.

Andy Wood, associate director and insolvency practitioner at Wilson Field said:

“Dividends for insolvent companies are generally low, or nothing, for a variety of reasons – cost of staff redundancies, difficulty collecting outstanding invoices, selling assets in a forced sale situation, selling specialist assets which have limited appeal to purchasers, deteriorating or perishable assets, as well as other costs involved.

“However, thanks to a very positive relationship with the creditors committee, I am delighted to return a healthy dividend to the unsecured creditors in the region of 60p in the pound.

“The supply chain is often greatly affected by a liquidation and in this case we have been able to help creditors.”

Derwent Castings Limited was incorporated in August 2002 and specialised in iron casting from the five-acre Derwent Foundry site at Whatstandwell near Matlock.

However, the iron founding operation at Derwent Foundry was first introduced back in 1946 by Wragg & Hawksley which produced cast iron pipes for the water industry.

In 1950 the foundry was acquired by WH Davis & Sons Ltd to supply castings for their railway wagon building business. Following a management buy out in 1984, the company was renamed Derwent Foundry Ltd and following its closure in July 2002, was bought by its present owners and renamed Derwent Castings Ltd.

Amongst jobs carried out on site were moulding using loose pattern and modern air setting (boxless) sand systems; metals work using the latest in electric induction melting producing a wide range of grey, SG and alloy irons; an independent Namas approved test laboratory, finishing, pattern making and machining facilities.

Image from GameCity.org [http://gamecity.org/]

The National Videogame Arcade is a unique national centre which is dedicated to history and development of computer and video games. The museum itself contains many rare and original videogames and consoles as well as a Toast Bar which serves a wide array of toast-based snacks.

Over its time, it has also been involved in working in collaboration with Arts Council England, Times Educational Supplement, Wellcome Trust and the British Library to name a few. These projects and collaborations focused on developing the role of videogames in culture and education.

Home of the acclaimed GameCity festival, The National Videogame Arcade in Nottingham, sadly fell into cash flow difficulties earlier this year despite an increase in its footfall. An eleventh hour investment by a director-led consortium, led by director Iain Simons, saved all 40 jobs at the increasingly popular tourist attraction and museum.

The cash flow difficulties led to the destination being taken into administration, Wilson Field’s Andy Wood and Lisa Hogg were appointed as joint administrators on 19^th August 2016.

Andy Wood, an insolvency practitioner at business turnaround and insolvency specialist, Wilson Field, said;

“The investment story behind the consortium is based on the passion that Iain Simons and his staff have for the GameCity project.

“We were appointed as administrators after the company fell into financial difficulties, despite growing in popularity. The consortium of investors could clearly see the potential to turn the business around and with support from the staff, GameCity has a new future.”

Director of GameCity and investment consortium leader, Iain Simons, was very happy with securing the last minute investment and the service he received from ourselves; “The NVA is like no other facility within the UK and is rapidly growing in popularity. It was devastating to us when we realised that the business was in financial difficulty, but we knew it could be overcome.

“I have to give all credit to the staff here who volunteered to work without pay when we announced that the business was in trouble and this undoubtedly allowed us the time to pull together a consortium of investors to give the facility a bright new future and secure those jobs.

“GameCity is rapidly picking up pace and the Toast Bar, National Videogame Arcade and our collaborations with new partners in the UK and beyond are proving to be just as popular as we’d hoped.”

For more information on GameCity visit http://gamecity.org and for further information about our insolvency procedures, call us on 0800 901 2475.