TWO former directors of numerous companies which own properties in Rhyl which have been used as temporary emergency accommodation have been declared bankrupt.
Peter Mitchell and his partner, Colette Goulding, were both declared bankrupt at Liverpool County Court on May 13.
Mr Mitchell, 65, has quit as a director of Social Value Housing, Big Help Trading Co and Big Help Homes CIC, which own 35 and 44 River Street, 42 River Street and 48 River Street respectively.
He had also resigned from Big Help Group, the overarching company under the “Big Help” name.
Ms Goulding, 57, also resigned from Big Help Trading Co, Big Help Homes CIC and Big Help Group earlier this year.
Per Companies House, on May 5, Mr Mitchell and Ms Goulding resigned as directors of Big Help Housing Co Ltd – Mr Mitchell was then re-appointed on May 19, before resigning again on the same day.
On May 7, meanwhile, they both resigned as directors of Big Help Project Cymru, whose registered address is 48 River Street (which is owned by Big Help Hom
In April, a Big Help spokesperson told the Journal: “Peter is currently battling with an aggressive form of cancer.
“As such, he has stepped down from his business activities to ensure his sole focus right now is on his current health struggles.”
According to Companies House, Big Help Trading Co’s latest accounts are months overdue, while the company is subject to receiver action, with five outstanding charges.
Big Help Homes CIC, meanwhile, is in administration, and last October was the subject of a winding-up petition sent to the High Court.
Its administrators, Grant Thornton, said in an administrator’s proposal that Big Help Homes CIC was leased 18 properties by another company, Home Long Income Fund (HLIF), but had “not paid rent to HLIF for some time”.
It also claims in this proposal that Big Help Homes CIC owes a total of £8.8million to its creditors.
Per Land Registry data, 42 River Street was bought by Big Help Trading Co for £260,000 in September 2021, and 48 River Street by Big Help Homes CIC for £245,000 in February 2021.
Another “Big Help” company, Big Help Project, is currently subject to a Charity Commission inquiry after a significant increase in its reported income was identified.
Mr Mitchell resigned as a director of Big Help Project and Big Help Green on May 5 - he also quit Social Value Housing on May 1.
In July, 42 and 48 River Street were two of seven Rhyl properties listed for online auction in July with estate agents Allsop “by order of a charity”, but none of the relevant legal documents were attached to their auction pages.
When contacted, Allsop could not disclose why they were subsequently withdrawn from auction.
Contrary to Land Registry documents, Mr Mitchell told the Journal last July that Social Value Housing owned all seven of these Rhyl properties.
Social Value Housing’s latest accounts are also overdue.
In August, three of these properties – including 48 River Street – were put back up for auction via estate agents Sutton Kersh.
No legal documents were attached to these properties’ auction pages on this occasion, either.
On August 29, all three properties’ auctions, scheduled for September 10, were postponed. On September 2, a Sutton Kersh representative said they were pulled from auction because it didn’t have “formal instruction” for them.
