Your Space failed owing nearly £20m
YOUR Space, the serviced office provider, collapsed with debts of nearly £20m.
The failure of a creditors’ voluntary arrangement (CVA) in March led to 22 redundancies and left creditors with debts of £6m. Your Space’s bankers are unlikely to recoup the total value of loans worth £13.4m.
An administrators’ report blames the depressed commercial property market for the failure of the CVA which was originally agreed in November.
Liverpool-based Your Space had two sides to its business: managing serviced offices in properties it rented, and renovating offices for other landlords. It also owned four properties, plots in Manchester and Willenhall, Staffordshire, and two part-developed sites in Sheffield and Glasgow.
The directors had planned to sell these two buildings and use the cash to increase the group’s stock of serviced offices. But the lack of buyers left Your Space with insufficient revenue to meet the terms of the CVA. The company, which was listed on AIM, had its shares suspended in March.
The report shows the company made an operating loss of £1.4m on turnover of £4.3m in the 11 months to February 28, compared to a full year loss of £4.2m on sales of £5.7m in 2009.
Administrators from the accountancy firm Deloitte are now seeking buyers for the firm’s property assets and have received a written offer for the Glasgow and Sheffield sites. Your Space borrowed £12.1m from the Bank of Ireland and £1.3m from Yorkville to fund its property acquisitions.
The report also said a going concern sale was ruled out because landlords terminated their agreements with Your Space when it went into administration. The last office to be handed back to the landlord was St James’s Place in Manchester, pictured.
