Cornish Shrimper and Crabber dealer 'going to fight'

The credit crunch has hit the Select Yacht Group Ltd of Wadebridge in Cornwall, the company that builds and sells Cornish Crabbers and Shrimpers, as well as the British Hunter range of yachts including the Link 30.

‘The company has gone into voluntary liquidation on the basis of the Inland Revenue giving the company no leeway on payments,’ said Frank Colam, Managing Director.

‘The deal was that I would pay creditors an amount of the sale of a factory unit. Then another department of the Inland Revenue came in and demanded money instantly, said Colam today. ‘The Inland Revenue are b*****ds – and you can quote me on that. They don’t take prisoners.’

The British Hunter Link 30, which made its show debut at Southampton, attracted a lot of interest but the financial climate meant that those interested were playing safe. ‘Southampton was awful,’ said Colam. ‘Interest in the Link 30 was huge but a lot of potential buyers were looking to sell first.’

‘We’re going to fight,’ said Colam. ‘We’re going to do our damnedest but it’s difficult. This Government’s paid billions of pounds of our money to bail out the banks but there’s been nothing, no help at all, for small and medium sized businesses like us. There were five British boatbuilders, now there are four. Manufacturing is completely shot in this country.’

‘No customer has lost any money and all deposits have been returned – there’s nothing outstanding,’ said Colam. Twenty staff, seen by Colam as one of the company’s primary assets, have been made redundant. ‘They will struggle to find work in this area,’ he added.

Accountant Francis Clarke of Exeter has been appointed to look after creditors.