Bev Budsworth from Manchester-based business recovery business, The Business Debt Advisor, has been appointed as liquidator to not for profit organisation, Envirolink Northwest Ltd.
The limited company was set up in 2001 to support the development and growth of low carbon and environmental goods and services sector in the Northwest of England. At its peak in 2010, the company employed around 90 staff and turned over £6 million.
Following a board meeting in early December 2012, Envirolink Northwest Ltd was placed into voluntary liquidation resulting in the redundancy of all its 19 staff.
The business was first started in 1999 by business leaders from the environmental sector and in 2000, the then North West Development Agency (NWDA) recognised the importance of promoting environmental status in the North West and awarded Envirolink Northwest ‘cluster manager’ status and funding.
Operating from offices in Birchwood, Warrington, Envirolink was funded by the former NWDA, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), North West local authorities and industry.
It fell into cash flow difficulties following successive funding cuts and the early closure of projects, which were exacerbated by the ERDF team moving from NWDA control to the control of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in April 2011.
Bev Budsworth, managing director of The Business Debt Advisor who was appointed as liquidator this week, commented: “It’s a really unfortunate situation that Envirolink Northwest found itself in. For a limited company that helped support so many businesses and created jobs in the region, it ultimately failed because it became increasingly difficult to get sign-off and payment on European funded projects. Severe funding cuts also drastically reduced turnover causing cash flow issues.
“What’s worse is that 19 extremely experienced and loyal staff will lose their jobs. Saving the business just wasn’t possible as there were very few remaining projects and no sustainable business to sell.
“Envirolink has suffered like many others in the ‘not for profit’ sector with government cutbacks affecting many worthy projects.”