Jobs saved as care home is sold

A ST Helens care home that faced being wound up over an unpaid tax bill has been sold out of liquidation.

The move has 17 saved jobs at the home which has 16 residents.

Clarencare Ltd, which traded as Brown Edge House Residential Home and was owned by Linda McCarten, has been sold to Brown Edge House Limited, a company incorporated last month and owned by Paula Allen.

As a result of the voluntary liquidation, arranged by insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor, HMRC has agreed not to proceed with the winding up petition and it is expected that the case will be dismissed at a hearing today.

Francesca Tackie, who negotiated the sale as liquidator, said: “We only became involved after the petition had been filed, giving us very little time to find a sale and plan a future for the business before its bankers froze its account.

“Our initial attempts were to secure a company voluntary arrangement or place the company into administration, but given the tight timescale and the  financial constraints placed on the business by the presence of the winding up petition, we were left with no alternative than to pursue a creditors’ voluntary liquidation and we were then able to sell the business out of liquidation.

“While time was against us all along, the fact that all jobs have been secured and no residents will be inconvenienced by the sale is excellent news.”