News £100k debt wrien off
MAIDSTONE Council has written off more than £100,000 in unpaid busi- ness rates associated with the recently closed Wonderland nightclub. Stephen Charles Thomas (62),
who is registered at a Milton Keynes address, was a director of two separate companies based at Lockmeadow that have gone bust. He was the sole director of NSG (Maidstone) Ltd, which went into liquidation in January this year owing Maidstone Council £56,705 in business rates. Mr Thomas was also one of two directors of TMH (XL) Limited, which went into administration in July last year, owing the council £59,318. The council’s policy and re- sources committee agreed to write off the £116,000 debt. Going back to the 1990s, not long
after the Lockmeadow complex was built, the premises has seen a variety of clubs – including Jumpin Jaks, Liquid and Envy and Ikon – come and go. For the past three years, its rein- carnation as Wonderland had young clubbers flocking to thewest
side of the Medway. However, Maidstone Council has approved an application to turn part of the club into a trampolining centre, to be run by Gravity Fitness Ltd. Wonderland closed its doors this summer for the final time with a foam party for under 18s.
WHENa company goes bankrupt, a second company can start up overnight with the same directors – but without any obligation to pay for the failed company’s losses. This is because they appear to be
different entities. The new firm is known as a phoenix company. Fraud happens when directors
abuse the phoenix company arrangement by transferring the as- sets of the failing company below their market value before insol- vency, which reduces the funds available to creditors. There is no suggestion of any ille- gality in any of the companies we have featured in our investigation.
Business rates |
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Ailing pub kept alive
Wonderland nightclub in Maid- stone’s Lockmeadow complex could become a centre for trampolining
Call for legislation to close loophole Continued from page one
manner. We are currently employ- ing over 100 people full- and part- time in Maidstone town centre. “We have been operating in Maid-
stone for over 22 years, contributing millions in taxes and rates and will continue to do so in the future.We personally took heavy losses (ap- prox £1m) but have continued to reinvest into the Maidstone econ- omy that is now coming out of one of the worse recessions in history.” Despite the debts already accrued
in charge of businesses that went into liquidation, theWilson brothers were able to launch The Brenchley in the High Street two years
ago.At the time their failed companies owed at least £667 to Maidstone Town Centre Management, who
IN the past half-decade eight pub- lic limited companies, of which ei- ther or both of Mark and Robert Wilson have been directors, have gone bust with huge debts. Documents seen by the Downs
Mail confirm that they are all linked to Strawberry Moons’ reg- istered address of 28-32 Gabriel's Hill, Maidstone. They were liqui- dated on the following months: February 2010 Wilson Fun Com- pany owed £1.1m, including £130,962 to HMRC. March 2010 Partner Club owed £703,842, including £82,305 to HMRC and £32,937 to Maidstone Council.
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still promoted the opening of the pub in its summer 2013 newsletter. The council
Mark Wilson
has sent a letter to the Local Government Association call- ing for a change in the law re- garding the
ease in which debts can be written off and phoenix companies created. The leader of the council Cllr Fran
Wilson (no relation to Mark or Robert) would not comment on in- dividual cases but said: “If a com- pany known to us closes and reopens under a different name
January 2012 Big Fix (RobertWil- son only) owed £104,679, includ- ing £82,771 to HMRC and £3,611 to Maidstone Council. April 2012 Kent Nightclub (addi- tional director JuneWilson (83), of Oak Croft, Bearsted) owed £188,142, including £101,971 to HMRC and £8,163 to Maidstone Council. May 2013 Mad Star (minus Robert Wilson; additional director June Wilson) owed £102,863, including £78,969 to HMRC and £3,500 to Maidstone Council. May 2014 Kent Club (additional director June Wilson) owed £317,495, including £24,553 to
Maidstone Town September 2015
there is absolutely nothing Maid- stone Council can do about it, other than collect business rates in the normal way. Until the Government decides to legislate against it there is littlewe can do.” Cllr Steve McLoughlin, a member
of the policy and resources commit- tee, said a possible solution was to demand the payment of business rates upfront from companies con- sidered a risk. Of the business rates that Maid-
stone Council successfully collects, it gets to keep 40%, with 10% given to KCC and the remainder to the Government. Although more than 97.6% of Maidstone businesses pay their rates on time, the council is currently owed more than £1.5m in unpaid rates.
Government and council both big losers
HMRC and £281 to Maidstone Council. May 20141MKLtd (additional di- rector Valerie Cradduck (62), of Penenden Street, Maidstone) owed £141,737, including £41,452 to HMRC and £15,403 to Maid- stone Council. March 2015 Openscore (additional director June Wilson) owed £318,705, including £88,323 to HMRC.
AMARRIED couple have been able to keep hold of The White Horse pub in London Road, Maidstone after being forced to put their struggling company into liquida- tion. Palmers Pub Company Limited, owned by Lee Palmer (58) and his wife Sandra (56),went into liquida- tion in November 2014, leaving a £34,000 debt in business rates that Maidstone Council has written off. Due to difficulties in meeting running costs of The White Horse, which the Allington couple have run since 2009, they lost their home but remain the pub’s landlords after a family member took it over under a new company name. Lee said: “It is unfortunate that, despite all the hard work and effort we have put into this business, we were advised to go into liquidation due to ever increasing outgoings that we could not keep up with. The biggest losses were ours, over £100,000, forcing the sale of our home, which has now all gone.We did not let any local suppliers go unpaid at any stage. “Thankfully, a family member
was able to buy what was left and allowed us to continue to stay at the pub.We put our heart and soul into what we do here to offer a de- cent and safe environment for peo- ple to relax and enjoy themselves. “We are great supporters of local
music and of local charities. We have helped to raise over £3,000 this year alone for various causes. We will continue to provide a serv- ice to our community for as long as we can.”
OTHER failed companies whose unpaid business rates were re- cently written off by Maidstone Council:
Farmshop Restaurant Ltd, oper- ating as Turning Tables, 62-63a High Street (£57,609). Virgo (London), Ltd, 365/366 DukesWalk, The Mall (£56,705). Saffron (London) Ltd, 68 Week Street (£53,279). Super-Fly Clothing Ltd, 23 Frem- linWalk (£40,761). Invent Events Ltd, 34c Gabriel’s Hill (£30,883). Infinite Leisure Hospitality Ltd, 15-17 King Street (£18,936). Wimpy Maidstone Ltd, 5 Gabriel’s Hill (£16,915). STC Fashions Ltd, 51 Week Street (£12,720). Footchain Ltd, 17 The Mall (£419 – previous debts already written off).
WHAT are your views on phoenix companies? Have you lost money in unpaid debts because a company went under, only for its owners to continue to trade the same as before? Should there be a change in the law? Contact the editor on
stephen@downsmail.co.uk
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