Baker Tilly Appointed to Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group Limited (FWAG)
Adrian Allen and Mark Wilson, partners at Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery LLP, have been appointed Joint Administrators to the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group Limited (Charity No: 326348) on the 18 of November.
The Company is a registered charity that promotes environmentally responsible farming and land management providing technical advice and practical guidance on a range of related matters, both to its membership base of farmers and landowners, also to Government organisations such as DEFRA and other partner organisations. Membership services include a technical update and awareness to local events of interest.
The Company’s headquarters are based at Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire and operates from several regional offices across the UK. It has an experienced and skilled advisory team of 80 consultants and a committed volunteer workforce throughout the UK based throughout the UK giving national coverage.
As a charity, FWAG was largely supported by grants from central government and not solely commercially driven for profit. However, the current economic climate combined with the Government spending cuts has negatively affected the Company’s profit margins to the extent an Administration process was required.
Regrettably, due to these circumstances, 119 of 124 employees at FWAG have been made redundant.
Currently the Administrators are seeking a sale for the Company’s business and its assets in the hope to preserve the future of this well-established charity.
Commenting on the prospects of sales being achieved, Adrian Allen said: “The Company has an established reputation for quality and good service and strong local links with the farming and land-owning community. The majority of the Company’s annual income of c5m relates to the value of advisory work provided. There is also a subscription base of c 6,000 members and sponsorship with a combined annual value of c380k which we also would hope to be an attractive proposition for interested parties.”
Mark Wilson said, “The Administrators will be exploring opportunities to ensure that where possible projects can be completed and customer requirements met. This would also be expected to maximise realisations available for creditors. Unfortunately, significant redundancies during this process have been inevitable. We are currently in discussions with management and the workforce in that regard.”
Speaking on behalf of Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group Limited on the Administration process, Trustee Philip Cook said: “We are working closely with those advisors who have, with regret, ceased their employment due to these current circumstances. It is of importance to us that we actively support them so they are in the in the best position to seek new employment.”
Interested parties may wish to register their interest either with Adrian Allen at Baker Tilly on 01733 260 780 or Heather Brunt on 0113 285 5000.
Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery LLP provides specialist expertise in the field of restructuring, recovery and insolvency services in the UK, comprising 27 partners and over 200 staff across 15 offices nationally. In addition to the firm’s specialists across the UK, we are able to draw on the expertise of our colleagues in the Baker Tilly International network to provide pragmatic, timely and insightful solutions to complex problems.
Baker Tilly is the trading name of a number of separate legal entities which together form a 191m (gross fee income), top 10 business of accountancy, tax and business advisers to entrepreneurial businesses.
Key professional services: audit and advisory, restructuring and recovery, corporate finance (AIM and PLUS specialists), e-commerce, forensic accounting, litigation support, tax and tax investigations, VAT.
Sector expertise: charities and education, agriculture, automotive, media, manufacturing, pensions, professional practices, public sector, property, social housing, retail and leisure.
Baker Tilly has over 1,750 members of staff and over 260 partners with 28 offices throughout the UK.
Baker Tilly International is the world’s 8th largest accountancy and business advisory network by combined fee income of its independent members. It is represented by 147 independent firms in 114 countries with combined fee income of US$3.13bn and 26,000 people worldwide.