Umbrella company contractors have put in claims for around half a million pounds worth of unpaid invoices following the collapse of Albany at the beginning of 2010.
Administrators have warned that it will take some months yet before they start going through claims from contractors; a statement which will no doubt depress the 100 or so contractors who are owed money.
In February, five of Albany’s companies in the UK went into administration. The decision came after RBS Invoice Finance withdrew a factoring facility worth £3 million. The affected companies were Albany Employment Services, Albany EMEA, Albany Holdings, Albany Management UK and Albany Technologies.
John Alexander, from Carter Backer Winter, said the administrators were aware that about 100 contractors were claiming about £500,000 and another 20 creditors, including HMRC, were claiming another £4.6 million.
Before the contractors claims can be processed, a forensic examination of Albany’s accounts has to be undertaken by IT experts. This is expected to take some months as the administrators have only just received full access to the company’s accounts.
CBW said in September that it did expect some money to be left after RBSIF was paid the money owing to it.
Albany had at one point employed about 300 people in this country but by the time it fell into difficulties the workforce had reduced to around 150, which included both freelancers and staff. The foreign subsidiaries of Albany were not affected by the UK insolvency and are all said to be profitable and sound.
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Image: At the station by James Jordan
