£30k blow as firm hit by Pochin collapse
ALOCAL kitchen firm is likely to be left more than £30,000 out of pocket after the collapse of building firm Pochin.
The Cheshire-based construction company went bust during the summer, forcing building work to stop at sites across the North West, including the Belong Birkdale site on Oxford Road, in Southport.
Administrator Grant Thornton was appointed in August and has now revealed the extent of financial problems at Pochin, which went bust owing £70m.
In an update filed with Companies House, the administrators listed a host of unsecured trade creditors who are collectively owed millions of pounds but are likely to only receive 4p for each £1 outstanding.
Some firms, including those based in Greater Manchester and Merseyside, will be left hundreds of thousands of pounds out of pocket.
Two Southport companies are listed among the creditors, with Crowland Street-based The Kitchen Engineering Co owed more than £33,000.
Under the terms proposed by Grant Thornton, it is likely to receive little more than £1,300.
Meanwhile, Kiddie Shopfitters, based on Kensington Road, will receive just £66 of the £1,659 owed.
Construction remains halted at the Belong Birkdale site, which will eventually see a state-of-theart care village opened on the site of the former RNIB Sunshine House for visually impaired children.
Sub-contractors were initially locked out of development on the day Pochin went bust, with security brought in to prevent access.
After police were called, workers were eventually allowed in to retrieve their own tools and equipment.
The £16m development had been expected to be complete and in use this year, but it is now not clear when this will happen.
The Visiter understands that Belong, which had been given no prior warning of Pochin’s collapse, is close to a deal with a new contractor.