Collapsed Cleveland Fire company owes taxpayers over £1.6m
Plus: Teesworks incinerator operator chosen unopposed
It’s edition number 66 of The Teesside Lead. You may be wondering why there’s no mention of Liberty Steel’s de facto nationalisation in this edition, given my previous coverage.
Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty empire comprises many different companies, and it’s only one of those which has been subject to this week’s court ruling, putting it into public hands. In court this week the judge said there were 15 different corporate entities in insolvency proceedings across nine different territories. The company of which Hartlepool’s Liberty mill is a part will be one of those.
When its time comes, it may not be so lucky as to fall into public ownership.
Elsewhere this week there’s the latest about the public-owned fire services company which has collapsed, owing the taxpayer more than £1.5m.
As far as I see nobody else has covered this in local media, despite the former chief fire officer’s involvement, or the fact the local fire brigade is owed more than £90,000. If you want to support my work, just click to subscribe for free. If you’re able to you can take a paid sub for £4.99 a month or £49 for the year.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to all who get in touch with story tips. Discretion assured, as always! Get in touch at teesside@thelead.uk or via Bluesky.
Enjoy your week, I’m off on my stag do this afternoon. Wish me luck!
Leigh
The fire brigade company which collapsed this month, leading to 38 job losses, has outstanding tax debts of over £1.5m.
Cleveland Fire Brigade Risk Management Services CIC (or CFB for short) was a commercial venture owned by the public Cleveland Fire Authority. Lawyers were due to appear in court last week after a winding-up petition was submitted by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over an unpaid tax bill, but councillors decided to liquidate the company before the court date.
Papers filed at Companies House show the company, which provided fire and hazardous substance management and training for other companies, had outstanding debts of £1,820,032 to a total of 37 creditors.
Its largest creditor was HMRC, to whom it owed £1,548,323. The second largest creditor was Cleveland Fire Brigade, which was owed £94,559 at the time the company was liquidated.
These totals are much higher than councillors who make up Cleveland Fire Authority were told of when they decided to liquidate the company at an extraordinary meeting at the start of the month. They were told the debts stood at £1.2m and £71,000, respectively.
The company has also accrued £43,204 in unpaid arrears to its employees’ pension funds.
One private sector creditor I spoke to, who is owed more than £20,000, told me the debt was for a service they provided to CFB this month, after they had been summoned to court by HMRC. They told me their company could take the hit, but that they were disappointed they had been given a contract when the company didn’t expect to be able to pay it.
The Statement of Affairs documents filed at Companies House are signed off by company director Ian Hayton, who retired as Cleveland’s Chief Fire Officer in September 2024. The papers say the company only has £221,780 in assets to pay total deficiencies on its books of over £2m.
I asked Cleveland Fire Brigade about the outstanding £94,559 debt to taxpayers, but they declined to comment.
A representative of the liquidators said it was too soon to establish how much of the company’s debts would be paid back.
Redcar family targeted by far-right extremists
Police have increased patrols around a mixed race Redcar family’s home after far-right extremists shared video of them online and threatened them in the street.
The Guardian reported that Olajuwon Ayeni, who is black, had been racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile after a video of him playing with his white grandchildren was shared online by extremists including Tommy Robinson.
Ayeni, who is a musician, was suspended by his management company in the wake of the accusations, and Labour MP Anna Turley was forced to write a letter to them to provide a reference of his character. She told The Teesside Lead she was “heartbroken for the Ayeni family, who’ve been targeted and abused because of Tommy Robinson’s poisonous lies.”
She added: “Redcar should be a brilliant place to bring up a family - whatever the colour of your skin. Blended families of all shapes and sizes have the right to enjoy a happy day out in Locke Park without suffering vile racism.”
Robinson shared the video on his X account with the sort of just-asking-questions caption that is regularly used by those on the far-right. “Wtf is even going on here?”, he asked his 1.4 million followers. “Where are the parents?!”
Ayeni and his wife, Natalie, have been afraid to leave their home as a result of the disinformation.
“We were walking home from shops just streets from our house,” said Natalie, “and two lads passed us, spun round and said ‘I hope you’re not them off that video or we’re coming back to slash you up’. It’s just horrendous.
“Someone was shouting ‘paedophile’ outside the house the other night, so I rang the police again but they say there’s little they can do. It feels a matter of time before something bad happens. We tried to go out yesterday and had to come home.”
Redcar & Cleveland Local Policing Superintendent Emily Harrison said: “Following an incident where some adult family members in the street received a verbal threat (which related to a trending video) from some young people, police became aware of this video and its contents.
“My officers immediately visited the family to reassure them and to complete a full risk assessment regarding their physical safety, especially whilst in their home.
“We completely understand the family’s concerns and we have implemented a full wraparound support package to try to mitigate them.”
Cleveland Police say they’ve made a referral to the victims’ service for the family, ensured they have access to mobile phones so they can immediately contact the police, and increased patrols by officers in the area around their home.
Supt Harrison said they are actively monitoring the situation and will deal with any perpetrators who are identified.
“Cleveland Police would also urge social media users to refrain from further sharing either the video or any incorrect information about the people featured,” she said.
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Viridor to be awarded Teesworks incinerator contract
Viridor will be awarded the contract to build and operate a waste incinerator at Teesworks, after being officially designated as the project’s Preferred Tenderer.
The project has seen opposition from local residents, pressure groups, and politicians. It’s a joint venture which will see unrecyclable waste from seven council areas in the North East burned to produce energy at the Teesworks site.
Hartlepool Council is leading the scheme on behalf of partner authorities Darlington, Redcar & Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, County Durham and Newcastle.
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