Hull Forward to close

HULL Forward is to close with the loss of 34 jobs just months after the economic development agency declared it was confident about its future.

The organisation is planning to close operations on September 30 after being hit bu public sector spending cuts.

It was revealed in April that Hull City Council and regional development agency Yorkshire Forward had only committed funding to Hull Forward until September.

However, chief executive John Holmes had told TheBusinessDesk.com that it was hoping to operate beyond September 30.

In a statement, the company said yesterday: “Yorkshire Forward and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) have reluctantly confirmed that there will be no funding towards the running of Hull Forward beyond 30 September following significant public sector funding cuts across the country.

“Hull City Council has indicated that a similar position is likely. This means that without funding, the company will be obliged to cease operations at this time with a full closure expected by the end of the calendar year.”

The regional development company was set up in April 2008.

Hull Forward said it had entered into a consultation period with its 34 employees and would “explore every opportunity to help the staff facing redundancy”.