CoRE Ltd has revealed it has ceased trading after the council refused help to keep the retrofitting training firm afloat…
A Stoke-on-Trent based firm that offers courses in eco-friendly retrofitting techniques has closed its doors.
CoRE Ltd, which opened in 2011, was based at the £12.3m Centre of Refurbishment Excellence in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. At the time it closed, CoRE Ltd had a total of 43 member companies, each paying up to £600 a year to access training courses and events.
The firm reported it had struggled to make ends meet and as a result had shut down. Two of the five members of staff working at CoRE Ltd will be transfer to the council’s payroll to manage the building.
The firm was originally set up as a partnership between Stoke-on-Trent City Council, the Building Research Establishment (BRE), and private industry.
The city council provided hundreds of thousands of pounds in loans to help the business access additional funding. However, council leaders decided to withdraw assistance following more requests for financial support.
The local authority has provided £50,000 to help with the “managed closure” of the firm.
The centre will continue to operate under the management of the city council and will be used as a venue to host events.
Deputy council leader Abi Brown said: “The council was asked to provide additional financial support to CoRE as we have done in the past due to severe financial pressures to keep the business operating.
“We are simply not in a position to continue to do this, particularly as we are now aware of the full extent of additional support required.
“The council continues to work closely with central government to ensure the building is used as required by the original grant funding.
“We have acted quickly to protect the interests of the taxpayers and ensure that this landmark building remains open.”
CoRE Ltd has had significant financial problems over the past few years, seeing a pre-tax loss of £146,904 last year. This was down from £164,812 in 2013. However, the company directors believed turnover would double this year.