Students in limbo as Hagley IT firm Advent goes bust
A Worcestershire based computer training firm has gone into insolvency, leaving students unsure if they have lost their money.
Advent sent e-mail messages to trainees on Wednesday evening announcing they had failed to secure funding and their training would stop.
Students from across the UK had paid course fees of up to £4,500 to the firm whose headquarters is in Hagley.
About 6,000 people have been affected the closure.
Advent arranged credit agreements through Barclays, which was made aware of the closure at the end of last week.
Barclays spokesman Andrew Bond said: "We recognise how important this training is for people and have formed a dedicated team to help any students find equivalent or better training at no extra cost to them so they can fulfil their aims."
Some students claim Advent was still accepting money for training as recently as last Wednesday.
'Money tight'
Online consumer forums have filled with worried messages from those who have taken out credit agreements or loans to pay for their course.
Advent employed about 200 staff, who were sent home over a week ago.
Company Director Ivor Allchurch said: "We are devastated for our staff, we are devastated for our students. The banks don't understand our business."
Posted at 08:37PM Feb 01, 2010 by Kelly Board in Insolvency | Comments[0]
'Insolvency Lag' May Hit UK Businesses
Previous figures have shown that UK businesses may now be at their most vulnerable due to the country finally leaving recession. Figures show that after previous recessions in the 1980s and 1990s, the period following recovery are when both business and individual insolvencies are at their highest. R3 (The Association of Business Recovery Professionals) has said that the peak in insolvencies may be due to suppliers and landlords becoming more aggressive in their quest for payments, whereas during recession, they tend to be lenient as every customer becomes vital in hard times. New research by R3 have shown the peak in company insolvencies came 5 financial quarters after emerging from recession in the 90s with individuals taking a further 3 months. The early 1980sm recession showed that the lag can take even longer for it to take effect, with it taking four years for corporate insolvencies to hit their peak. The lag comes because a recovery period takes a considerable amount of time before the beneficiaries filter through to businesses, however suppliers will ignore this as they try to recuperate their losses from the recession. R3 say they are predicting that around 28000 companies to become insolvent with the figure staying similarly high in 2011 as the lag continues to take effect. A survey conducted has also revealed that the vast majority of UK businesses are also ignorant of the impending lag and therefore ill prepared for the worst as it will begin to take effect. Peter Sargent, partner at leading business recovery specialist Begbies Traynor, said he expected insolvencies to peak during the next two financial years. "As widely anticipated, today's GDP estimates for the fourth quarter of 2009 have confirmed that the UK has emerged from technical recession after the longest period of negative growth in more than 50 years," he said. "Whilst this represents a small positive step, the risk of a double-dip recession remains a real threat and sadly confirms that for many businesses a true economic recovery remains uncertain.
Posted at 11:50AM Feb 01, 2010 by Kris Wigfield in Insolvency | Comments[0]
