By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
More than 400 creditors are owed an estimated £62m following the collapse of the council-run Robin Hood Energy.
A report into the latest financial situation of the doomed company, which is now in administration, shows there are 417 ‘unsecured creditors.’
An unsecured creditor is an individual or institution that lends money without obtaining specified assets as collateral.
They are owed around £62m in total. To date, administrators have received claims from 36 totalling £13.4m.
Administrators are doing all they can to secure cash for those left crippled by the collapse, including selling off Robin Hood Energy’s furniture at £10,000.
They are also chasing debtors, including those customers in arrears from Robin Hood Energy, with an estimate of £840,000.
Nottingham City Council set up Robin Hood Energy in 2015 to tackle fuel poverty in the city and take on the ‘big six’ energy firms including British Gas.
Last year, a damning public report accused the council of ‘institutional blindness’ as it used millions of pounds of public money to prop up the failing company.
British Gas’ parent company, Centrica, has since purchased the customer list for £800,000 after Robin Hood Energy plummeted into administration.
Administrators Teneo have now delivered a progress report covering the period of January 5 to July 4 this year.
It says Robin Hood Energy had 109 employees and by February 28, 2021, all of them had been made redundant.
Wages and salaries worth £865,000 have been paid as well as their statutory and enhanced redundancy entitlements.
Costs of redundancy will be reimbursed to the estate by the parent company out of its divided entitlement as an unsecured creditor in due course.
The pension scheme has also been ceased, and 417 creditors are owed an estimate of around £62m in total. To date, 36 claims totalling £13.4m have been received.
The report states: “Based on present information, sufficient funds will be released to enable a dividend to be paid to unsecured creditors.
“The quantum of the dividend is expected to be in the region of 20p/£1. However, this is subject to change depending on the level of claims and asset realisations. The distribution to unsecured creditors will be paid once the company enters creditors voluntary liquidation.”
Only HMRC will be paid in full as a ‘secondary preferential creditor,’ in terms of taxes owed. The claim is around £670,000.
An initial claim of £1,700 has been received and administrators believe the claim can be reduced by around £500,000 by filing a pre-appointment VAT return.
The report states that Robin Hood Energy’s current accounts and its balance-in-hand now sits at £10,798,297.
The administration process is expected to end on or before January 4, 2022.
