Norwich business debts of £130k written off by council

The decision to write off the debt was taken by Norwich City Council

A council has written off debts of £130,000 after two businesses went into liquidation and administration.

Norwich City Council lost the money when it was unable to claim business rates owed from Britannia Enterprises Norwich CIC and the chain clothing store, Peacocks.

Labour councillor Paul Kendrick, said the decision was a "last resort" and you "can't get blood out of a stone".

It is hoped some of the money will be recovered in the future.

As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, its member for resources, Mr Kendrick, said: "We only write off debt as a last resort and of course it doesn't prevent us in the future, if at all possible, claiming these monies.

"You can't get blood out of a stone and if a company goes into liquidation or administration you simply cannot get this money back again."

Britannia community interest company ran cafés across Norwich, including Café Britannia at HMP Norwich, Park Britannia at Waterloo Park, Gibraltar Gardens in Heigham Street, Court Britannia at Norwich Crown Court, and the Guildhall Britannia.

It went into liquidation in October 2019.

Peacocks went into administration in November 2020.

A report to councillors said: "If or when any dividend is received, the debt can be written back on again to take this into account."

The cabinet unanimously approved the £129,666.52 write-off.