Well known regional firm Sanderson Young has gone into administration, but has been bought out by a company wholly owned by the wife of managing director Duncan Young.
Young founded upmarket Newcastle-based Sanderson Young in 1997. The company went into administration last Thursday, the local paper is reporting, after an unpaid tax bill to HMRC, which issued a winding up order in June.
Young had claimed that an administrative error was the reason why the £175,000 bill went unpaid.
Post-administration, Sanderson Young will continue to trade and all 50 jobs have been saved.
Young told the Newcastle Chronicle: “The business will be the same as what is there now. I have no plans for redundancies.
“We are going forward with a strong order book and new clients. There is an idea to slim down some of the premises as nowadays estate agents do not need as many premises as they did in the past.
“We would look to expand some of our sites and some people would work from home.
“The historic days of having a key office on every high street are fading away.”
The newspaper also reports a ‘secret’ bidding war, with Pattinson and Bradley Hall both putting in offers. Pattinson is said to have changed its mind and pulled out, while Bradley Hall’s bid was unsuccessful.
Pattinson must have been keen, though, as it registered a company with the name of Sanderson Young Estate Agents – different from that of Sanderson Young Ltd, which was the firm that went into administration.
The Journal also reports that according to a document it has seen, Sanderson Young owed HMRC a total of £503,437 in various taxes.
Sanderson Young has branches in Gosforth, Ponteland and Alnwick, and has an office called rare! specialising in homes over £700,000.
Yesterday, Young confirmed to EYE that the buyer of Sanderson Young is D G Young, a company solely owned by his wife, Alison. The firm was incorporated on August 21 this year, and its business according to Companies House is estate agencies.
Admin error? These are the kind of companies who shouldn’t be looking after deposits…
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Clearly knew it was coming…why else set up a company in your wife’s name?
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