Pictured: Bob Young
Corporate recovery specialists at Begbies Traynor have helped
one of the country's best loved independent bookstores to
survive.
Bob Young and Steve Currie, partners at corporate recovery
specialists Begbies Traynor's Stoke office, arranged a Company
Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), ensuring that Motor Books (UK) Ltd
could continue to trade.
Motor Books is the oldest motoring bookseller in the world. It
was established in 1950 and over the years has expanded its
operations to cover railway, aviation, maritime and military
subjects.
It is located in Cecil Court, London, where it moved shortly
after the business had celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Bob Young said: "Motor Books was highly popular with its
customers but a number of decisions and issues in recent years had
contributed to the business falling into an insolvent
situation.
"Expanding into stores in Bournemouth, Swindon and Oxford had
not proven successful over the years - the business was left with a
bad debt of £17,000 on the Oxford premises - but in 2010 the
company suffered a further serious blow when its principal supplier
of motoring titles, Menoshire Ltd, suddenly ceased trading.
"Motor Books had a long trading history with Menoshire and
preferential trading terms. It was not able to fill this gap
quickly and on the same commercial terms with multiple book
wholesalers and consequently turnover slumped from £798,235
in 2009 to £644,942 in 2010."
The owner of the business, Thomas Gethings, has worked with Bob
Young and Steve Currie on a proposal to save the business. Mr
Gethings is personally owed a total of £159,451.55 which he
injected into the company in order to enable it to continue
trading.
Under the CVA, the proposals provide for all creditors to be
paid in full over a five year period.
Mr Young said: "By focusing on one location in an excellent area
for bookstores, and by building up online sales, it is considered
that the business has a sound future.
"That is why we worked with Mr Gethings towards establishing a
CVA as the best way forward both for the business and for the
creditors, who would have received considerably less if the
business had gone into liquidation.
"We are pleased we have been able to save such a well known and
much loved British institution, and this is another example of how
a business can be saved.
"A CVA is a useful tool and can help to save a business and jobs
while establishing sensible and sustainable arrangements for the
payment of creditors."
For more information about Begbies Traynor, please visit their
website here: www.begbies-traynorgroup.com