“Bankruptcies hit the ‘little man’ ‘’

Jan 8 2009 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

SELF-EMPLOYED people could lose out as firms in the Huddersfield area go bust, a councillor has warned.

Clr Martyn Bolt, who ran a window cleaning business until last year, is worried that tradesmen will go unpaid as firms such as Woolworth’s and Zaavi close their doors.

He said: “As someone who ran a small business I suffered when firms went bankrupt and didn’t pay their bills.

“When a business goes bust the taxman gets his pound of flesh first.

“But the milkman or the window cleaner can miss out, which has a knock-on effect for the local economy.”

Clr Bolt wants a change in the law to stop receivers benefiting from failed firms.

The Mirfield Conservative said: “Woolies, in its death throes, even sold the shelves.

“Yet the receivers, Deloitte, will get millions of pounds. Their tea and coffee bill will come to more than what some small businesses will get out of this.

“Bankruptcies need to be dealt with by a Government agency, not private companies.”