30 acres of Chipping up for sale (From Lancashire Telegraph)

30 acres of Chipping up for sale

6:00pm Friday 30th July 2010 in

More stories about: HJ Berry

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ADMINISTRATORS of an historic furniture firm have put huge swathes of a village up for sale as they bid to claw back money for creditors.

Almost 30 acres of land once owned by HJ Berry, the 170-year-old Chipping company that collapsed in February, are set to be auctioned off.

Administrators need the money to help pay back creditors owed more than £1million in total.

Among the assets set to go under the hammer are the firm’s old mill and newer industrial complex.

Houses owned by HJ Berry will also be auctioned off, along with land and even a cricket pitch.

Administrators at Manchester-based CLB Coopers have not revealed how much they hope to raise from the auction, led by chartered surveyor Wignall Brownlow.

But they have had 25 expressions of interest in the property and the land, including one from former boss Andrew Berry.

CLB has already offloaded The Talbot pub which was owned by HJ Berry.

And the administration firm has even found a new home for Gandhi the goose, who lived on a pond near the mill buildings.

Paul Hunt, chairman of Chipping Parish Council, said: “There’s a lot of land there but at the moment we have got no idea who is interested or what they might do with the land.

“It is difficult to know what plans people might have. It would certainly be nice to see it put to good use but I think all options are open.”

In April, administrators revealed that the firm, which made tables and chairs, was on course to record losses of £1million had it continued trading.

Among its debts were £470,000 owed to Lloyds TSB, £270,000 to HM Revenue and Customs and a £5million black hole in the company pension fund.