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Leading UK training provider collapses into liquidation

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More than 200 people were employed at Qube Learning to train around 3,500 apprentices when it was put into liquidation in May 2023. 

The company based at Milton Park provided training for Specsavers, JD Group, Matalan, BT and Greater Anglia in sectors including care, logistics, retail and facilities. 

Qube’s founder Gavin Winchello (Image: unknown)

Tim Bateson and Chris Pole, of Interpath Advisory, were appointed as joint liquidators to wind down Qube Qualifications and Development Limited.

In a new liquidation report, Mr Bateson revealed he has managed to find £932,391 from the sale of a building used by Qube Learning.

He said: “The sale of one of the freehold properties has now completed and £932,391 was received by the company during the period in accordance with the terms of the settlement agreement.

“The sale of the other freehold property subject to the settlement agreement is in progress and is expected to complete within the next few months.”

Qube Learning primarily operated out of Bee House in Eastern Avenue, Milton Park.

The primary asset of the company is an overdrawn director’s loan account totalling £1.59m connected to former director Gavin Winchello.

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Mr Winchello died in 2020 from an illness, some three years before the company’s collapse, leaving his wife Claire to take over.

Ordinary preferential claims from former employees of the company are estimated at £308,000.

Mr Bateson believes they will receive a dividend of 100p in the pound.

HMRC is also expected to receive all its £86,569 in unpaid tax back as a secondary preferential creditor.

“We expect to make a distribution to the unsecured creditors of the company,” Mr Bateson added.

“However, we are unable to confirm the quantum or timing of the dividend until such time that all realisations have been made.”

Liquidators previously estimated Qube accrued an approximate £2.95m total deficiency it will not be able to pay back to the 200-plus creditors. 

Since they were appointed in 2023, the liquidators have racked up a bill of around £102,000.

Qube Learning previously hinted that compeititon within the apprenticeship market led the ultimate demise.

In an email to staff and reported on by FE Week, Ms Winchello said that “increased competition in the apprenticeship market, challenges regarding stagnant funding bands, uncertainty around adult education budget contracts and the expected expiry of our traineeship contracts has meant there is too much uncertainty for the business to continue”.

She added it was a “heart-breaking” decision to close.





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Headington Post Office to reopen after long campaign

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People have been fighting for its future after it was forced shut in London Road because the building which it was in was going to be demolished.

Formerly inside the Co-Op, the Post Office closed on December 31 last year to make way for research and office space.

But now the Post Office has confirmed it will reopen at number 12 Windmill Road on September 15 at 1pm.

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“We are keen to restore service to this community as soon as possible, so we have decided to go ahead with our plans,” Co-Op spokeswoman Sheila Tapster said.

The opening hours will be Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5.30pm, providing over 51 hours of service per week.

A similar wide range of products and services will still be available.

Ms Tapster added: “The new branch will be located approximately 280 metres from the previous location.

“St Leonards Road Car Park pay & display is available 120 meters away on St Leonards Road.

“The new premises will have a wide door and a ramp at the entrance. Internally, there will be a hearing loop and space for a wheelchair.

“This re-opening of the branch in a new location is a commercial decision for Post Office and we are not seeking feedback on this aspect of the change.

“However, we would welcome suggestions and feedback about access into and inside the new premises.

“The opportunity to give feedback will close on 12 August. Customers can share their views during the consultation online at postofficeviews.co.uk with the branch code 397137.

“Submissions can also be made via email to comments@postoffice.co.uk, by post to Freepost YOUR COMMENTS, or by telephone 03452 66 01 15 or Textphone 03457 22 33 55.”





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Park Place launches podcast for CIOs on AI pressure

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Park Place Technologies has launched The Savvy CIO, a podcast for IT leaders hosted by former Chief Information Officer Bradd Busick.

The first season focuses on the pressures facing senior technology executives as they manage ageing infrastructure, fixed budgets and rising demand tied to artificial intelligence.

Sponsored by Park Place, the series features conversations with IT executives and industry analysts from organisations including IBM, Coca-Cola Bottlers, Datum, Omdia, Solved and IDC. The opening season runs to 10 episodes.

Its editorial focus reflects a familiar tension in large organisations. Chief Information Officers are under pressure to keep existing systems running while deciding where to invest in modernisation, automation and data-intensive projects.

Topics include AI readiness, the practical challenges of liquid cooling in data centres, and the difficulty of getting more value from static IT budgets. Together, they point to an industry debate that has shifted from broad digital transformation language to questions of infrastructure limits, energy use and procurement discipline.

Busick, who currently serves as Principal, AI, Data & Technology Enablement at Frazier Healthcare Partners, brings a background in healthcare and operational technology. He previously served as Chief Information Officer at MultiCare Health System and was recognised as Washington State Healthcare CIO of the Year and National Healthcare CIO of the Year at the ORBIE Awards.

The launch adds to a broader stream of vendor-backed media aimed at senior technology buyers. Many suppliers and services groups now use podcasts and interview formats to reach Chief Information Officers and Chief Technology Officers making decisions on infrastructure life cycles, cloud spending, AI deployment and internal productivity.

Industry pressure

The programme is built around a hardening set of priorities in enterprise IT. Boards want returns from previous technology spending, finance teams want tighter discipline, and operating divisions increasingly expect AI tools and more responsive systems without matching budget increases.

That leaves technology leaders balancing competing demands. In many organisations, they must maintain ageing hardware and support contracts even as they are asked to shift funds towards data, automation and machine learning projects.

Infrastructure decisions have also become more visible at executive level because of the strain created by AI workloads. Questions about processing capacity, cooling, energy consumption and data architecture now sit alongside traditional concerns such as resilience, uptime and software support.

Busick framed the role in stark terms.

“In the old days, the CIO used to keep the lights on. Now the CIO decides which lights are worth keeping,” said Bradd Busick, Principal, AI, Data & Technology Enablement at Frazier Healthcare Partners.

He added: “This podcast features some of the top thought leaders in the world, where we don’t just talk about technology, we talk about leverage, speed and where the organisation is ‘lying to itself’ about its IT capabilities.”

Content strategy

For Park Place, the podcast offers a way to attach its brand to recurring discussions about infrastructure management and IT economics. The company operates in IT infrastructure services and reports annual revenue of USD $1.2 billion and 3,300 employees.

It says it serves more than 25,000 organisations across 180 countries, including half of the Fortune 500. Its business spans hardware maintenance, software technical support, hardware procurement and related infrastructure management services.

Park Place’s marketing leadership said the series was designed to address the less polished side of technology change programmes, where cost constraints and operational bottlenecks often slow executive plans.

“We realised many of the conversations being had focused entirely on the aspirational side of modernisation and did not actively address the ever-increasing hurdles CIOs face,” said Larry DeAngelis, Vice President of Marketing at Park Place Technologies.

He added: “We are hosting intelligent conversations to equip CIOs and CTOs with actionable insights to move their businesses forward.”

Shifting audience

The target audience extends beyond Chief Information Officers. The first season’s themes suggest the programme is aimed at a broader group of senior technology and operations leaders, including Chief Technology Officers, infrastructure heads and digital transformation executives.

That reflects a change in how enterprise technology purchasing decisions are made. Budget authority and strategic influence are often spread across finance, operations, security and product teams, making it harder for a single executive to shape technology direction alone.

The inclusion of analysts from firms such as IDC and Omdia also suggests an effort to combine practitioner experience with market interpretation. In vendor-backed editorial products, that mix can broaden relevance by linking frontline operational problems with wider industry patterns.

For listeners, the appeal may rest less on the existence of another business podcast and more on whether it can offer blunt assessments of the trade-offs senior IT leaders already face each day: whether to extend the life of existing assets, where to spend scarce budget, and how to avoid overstating readiness for AI projects before the underlying infrastructure is in place.



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Oxfordshire cafe to close just one year after launch

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No.33 Didcot opened on Great Western Park on March 10 but has been given notice to leave its current space.

Bosses say the business has not been a failure as money invested has almost been entirely made back.

However, it will be closing at the end of August.

A statement from No.33 Didcot said: “It’s with a very heavy heart that we have, today, given notice to leave our space on Great Western Park.

No.33 Didcot opened on Monday, March 10 (Image: No.33 Didcot)

“Before the rumours start, we will put them straight to bed. There’s been no failure. We very nearly made the money back that we invested which, for a hospitality start up in 2026, is pretty bloody good.

“We opened because it was a pretty risk free venture. Low rent. Short term tenancy.

“Unfortunately, although that makes it appealing to go into, it also makes it a business that can’t be sold on.

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“If it’s not paying me a wage and I can’t sell it on, it’s an awful lot of time and effort for nothing. That’s the story. End of. Nothing more to see.

“We will carry on doing exactly what we do until the end of August. Nothing will change before then, so please keep visiting us as you always have.

“There will be lots of ‘thank you’ posts over the next few weeks but, for now, please know how grateful we are that so many of you visited and liked what we did.

“I’m extremely proud of what we built and I hope it made some of you smile.”





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