A North Sea engineering firm has been pushed to the brink of liquidation after its bank pulled the plug on more than £1million worth of loans.
HM Revenue and Customs has lodged a petition at the Court of Session seeking to wind-up Aberdeen-based Caledyne after the firm failed to pay its 2012-13 tax bill on time.
Last night, managing director, Roland van Dort, told the Press and Journal the company had been put under pressure after Clydesdale Bank suddenly called in its overdraft; plus a UK Government-backed loan.
He said the company had had to sell off an asset to meet the £1.3million repayment, which forced it to miss its April 19 tax deadline.
It is battling back and is now in a position to pay up and continue to trade, but bosses have been left furious by the way they have been treated.
The bank said it only withdrew loans as a last resort, however.
“I feel very hard done by,” added Mr van Dort.
Caledyne, which specialises in the provision of production equipment and engineering services, is expected to turn over £3.5million this year.
Clydesdale granted the firm £1.8million of debt-funding, working capital in 2010 as the firm looked to boost its turnover by 500%.
But Mr van Dort said the bank now seemed determined to get rid of people they don’t want anymore. He added: “The issue is our bank demanded repayment of all our facilities; including our overdraft and government-backed Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) loan.
“The total came to £1.3million. We have had to sell an asset to repay it. That’s done, which has left funds which will go to HM Revenue and Customs.
“I don’t have a huge problem with the overdraft being recalled, because that is an unsecured loan. But the EFG loan is 75%-backed by the government. It just all seems a bit harsh.”
Last night, a spokesman for Clydesdale Bank said finance was only withdrawn from firms if there was no other solution.
He added: “While we cannot comment on individual cases, we are keen to work with well managed businesses and support their growth.
“Where facilities are withdrawn, or mature and are not renewed, this is a last resort and only comes after many months of trying to work with a business and its management team to find a positive route forward.
“Unfortunately, this is not always possible.”
HMRC said that Caledyne had until the middle of next week to meet its undisclosed financial demands, warning the firm that failure to do so could result in a liquidator being appointed.
Mr van Dort said talks were already under way to ensure the bill was paid in the coming days.