Neil Vinnicombe and Paul Wood of Begbies Traynor were appointed as joint liquidators of Aldridges of Bath on September 23.
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With the company not operating a client account, consumer creditors are owed more than £194,000.
Neil Vinnicombe and Paul Wood of Begbies Traynor were appointed as joint liquidators of the firm on September 23.
According to Companies House documents the firm had just over £48,000 of assets. Businesses (trade creditors) are owed more than £30,000 with other creditors including HMRC (owed more than £16,000) and Natwest bank (nearly £8000).
Although not a legal requirement, it is considered best practice for auction houses to run a client account to keep vendors’ money separate from other
Client account
For example, all members of the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers have to operate a separate client account or an alternative method of protecting client funds that has been approved by SOFAA’s committee.
A number of Aldridges’ vendors are owed considerable sums. One customer, who consigned their parents’ possessions following the sale of their home, is owed £26,000. They wrote to the Daily Telegraph’s Consumer advice column last month stating that the family’s art and antiques were sold across five auctions in May, June, and July.
It is highly unlikely unsecured creditors - including vendors - will receive any payout from the liquidators. Customers were contacted to return unsold items when the company ceased trading and - post liquidation - and Begbies Traynor sought to repatriate items in the building (Phoenix House, Lower Bristol Road, Bath) until the keys were handed back to the landlord.
Begbies Traynor will update creditors as necessary. By law the liquidator must submit a progress report to Companies House every 12 months.
Aldridges was run by John Street from 1976. His son Ivan Street became a director and took over the running of the business in the mid-1990s.
