THE PCC of St Mary’s, South Creake, in Norfolk, is out of pocket to the tune of £11,500 after 80 latest chairs, paid for in December 2022, have did not arrive. The company, Rosehill Furnishings Ltd, went into administration last month.
St Mary’s placed the order to interchange chairs that had been used for 70 years, after the removal of the pews within the Fifties. The church hosts the annual, week-long North Norfolk Music Festival, and two of the chairs collapsed under audience members. Closer inspection revealed most of the remaining to be riddled with woodworm, and the PCC and congregation decided to interchange them.
Rosehill, based in Cheshire, sent a sample chair that met with PCC approval, and the order was placed. The company gave a delivery time of between eight and ten weeks, while the church used plastic chairs from the Yorke Trust.
The Rector of St Mary’s, the Revd Clive Wylie, contacted the corporate when the order did not materialise. “We were told, first, that there have been problems in getting them made, which was once we discovered they were made in Poland,” he said last week.
“The story continued. We were eventually told that, as a consequence of Brexit, no Polish driver desired to bring a small load over to the UK, and no English driver would go on the market to gather them, due to all of the paperwork.”
The company said that it could source a factory in England to make the chairs, though there would obviously be a delay. The PCC continued to contact it for updates. “The next little bit of the story was that there had been a hearth on the factory supplying the wood,” Fr Wylie said.
“At that time, I wrote a letter to the managing director asking for a full refund. It was sent recorded delivery; so we all know they got the letter.” The letter was never acknowledged.
Page from the web site of the Rosehill Furnishings Group
The situation eventually reached the diocesan registrar, who discovered that the corporate had gone into administration in mid-February. Having got into financial difficulties, the corporate had built up rent arrears of £135,000 and was locked out of its premises in January.
The company has since been bought by Rosehill Furnishings Group Ltd for £35,000, which continues to supply furniture, including chairs, to businesses and churches. The latest company has no responsibility for the previous company’s debts, nonetheless, and Fr Wylie has to deal directly with the administrators.
South Creake is amongst the corporate’s unsecured creditors, who’re together owed £173,000, and is, subsequently, unlikely to see any of its money. Altogether, the failed company left debts of £723,000.
In the mean time, the organisers of the forthcoming music festival in August can have to rent some chairs, which would cut back the donation to the church.
Fr Wylie said: “If we had got the chairs, we’d have thought that cash well spent, but to think that we won’t see a penny of it is a big source of stress.
“I’ve needed to ask the diocese to cut back our contribution to the parish share, because we just cannot afford it for the time being. Like quite a lot of rural congregations, we’re struggling. We depend on the music festival to balance the books at the tip of the yr.”
The Rosehill Furnishings Group was contacted for comment. It said: “The former business is now within the hands of the administrators and the church should now have been contacted by them to debate next steps. Unfortunately, we are not any longer permitted to be involved. We appreciate how frustrating this have to be for the church. The administrators will have the opportunity to substantiate on to them either way.”
