Chamber of Commerce pulled back from brink
A BUSINESS body which has represented Wakefield firms for more than 130 years was more than £200,000 in debt before a financial rescue package was agreed.
Directors at the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MYCCI) met creditors last week to renegotiate debts which forced the organisation to the brink of collapse.
Around 50 staff at the chamber, which represents firms who pay a membership fee for services, were placed on redundancy notice in December.
And My Nursery, its childcare facility next to the chamber offices on Westgate, was closed – leaving parents without childcare just before Christmas.
The nursery building will be sold along with other assets under a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with creditors which was agreed last Friday.
Andrew Choi, executive director of Huddersfield-based MYCCI, could not confirm how many redundancies there would be, but said the figure had been reduced by the nursery sale.
He said: "We are pleased to confirm that the CVA proposal was accepted by our creditors last Monday and subsequently ratified by the members of the company last Friday.
"The CVA has the effect of securing the chamber's business going forward and we are confident that our services to business will be unaffected by these recent difficulties."
The CVA was negotiated with the help of Tenon Recovery and Chadwick Lawrence solicitor's.
It shows total debt claims of 659,000, including 37,000 of employees' claims and a 148,000 deficit in the firm's childcare account, which employers paid into to provide staff nursery vouchers.
The CVA estimates the company's assets, including the nursery, worth an estimated 180,000, and an Audi A8 car valued at 14,000, to be 446,770.
The total debt after assets were taken into account was 212,430.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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