December 2009

BREAKING NEWS

All creditors of the operations conducted under the management of the St Stephen’s the Great (SSG) charity and associated companies are urged to contact the interim manager appointed by the Charities Commission as detailed below.

Call for creditors of SSG

The Interim Manager, Peter Gotham, appointed by the Charities Commission to handle the affairs of the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust (SSG), has taken possession of ten of the SSG bookshops and begun the process of dealing with claims against the charity's assets.

Gotham of Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP, gave notice on 26th November that creditors who believed they have a valid claim against the SSG Trustees, incurred before 1st July 2007, should write to him to register their claim before 16th December 2009. This effectively gave creditors just under three weeks to respond.

There was no indication as to how creditors whose claims relate to the period 1st July 2007 onwards should proceed, or indeed if there was even a possibility of making a claim against the assets of the charity. It is also unclear how the restrictive covenant (that the premises be used for Christian retailing purposes for at least seven years) which applied to all the freeholds transferred by SPCK to SSG might impact on any potential sale of the freehold properties, which make up the majority of the assets.

However if you believe you have a claim against SSG then you are advised to contact the interim manager immediately.

The notice from Begbies Traynor said:

In April 2009, the Charity Commission appointed Peter Gotham of Begbies Traynor as Interim Manager to take over its running - other than with respect to its religious mission in the churches it controls. This objective was made more complicated by virtue of the fact that since 1 July 2007 the shops previously operated by the charity were managed instead by other companies appointed by the Trustees. The Interim Manager has now completed his initial work, has retaken possession of 10 shops, and is moving towards meeting valid claims on the charity's assets.

Creditors who believe that they have a valid claim against the Trustees of St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust incurred before 1 July 2007, should write to the Interim Manager at Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP, 32 Cornhill, London EC3V 3BT under ref S8703 before the close of business on 16 December 2009.

Peter Gotham, Interim Manager of St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust commented:

“We are pleased to have completed the possession of 10 of the Charity's shops and we have now instructed agents to put various of the Trust's properties on sale. We would therefore invite creditors with claims incurred before 1 July 2007 to come forward in order to ensure that no valid claims go unmet.”

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