CIC linked to Cleveland Fire Authority & Saddled with £1.2 Million Pounds Worth of Debt Officially Placed into Liquidation...

Company linked to Cleveland Fire Authority which was laden with debt has now been placed into Liquidation, but who will foot the bill for the firms losses ?

14th August 2025

A Community Interest Company underpinned by a public institution has officially gone into insolvency, with liquidators now examining how the troubled business can repay its staggering £1.2 million pounds worth of debt.

The Teesside & Durham Post recently revealed that Cleveland Fire Brigade Risk Management Services C.I.C. faced legal action in the High Court after one of its creditors, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), moved to recover substantial sums owed in VAT, tax, and National Insurance..

According to reports made to the court in June, HMRC had made several attempts to put in place arrangements allowing the CIC — backed by Cleveland Fire Authority — to continue operating whilst addressing its mounting debts. However, administrators FRP Advisory were ultimately called in after the company, which had previously posted healthy profits, saw its finances nosedive within just a year, amassing debts reported to be around £1.2 million pounds.

Cleveland Fire Authority convened an extraordinary meeting earlier this month ahead of a scheduled High Court hearing, where its claimed Legal advisers reportedly warned officials that a court-ordered liquidation could have cost tens of thousands of pounds in legal fees. Instead, its claimed the CIC then opted to voluntarily place itself into liquidation as well as another corporation CFB Risk Management Group Ltd which was set up just weeks before HMRC petitioned the liquidation of the former CIC & was reportedly ordered by the court to ...

The collapse has led to the loss of around 38 jobs

The reputational damage to Cleveland Fire Authority is said to be 'irreversible'

The collapse has reportedly had an immediate and damaging impact — with around 38 jobs reportedly lost and Cleveland Fire Authority’s reputation laying in ruins due to its connection with the failed business.

FRP Advisory, now acting as the CIC's liquidators, are said to be assessing whether any creditors will now see any repayment of the money they're owed. However sources suggest this is highly unlikely given the scale of the company’s financial black hole. Its also claimed that as part of their duties, liquidators will also investigate whether the collapse was due to adverse market conditions or potential misconduct after concerns were raised when one of the CIC's director's — Former Chief Solicitor to Hartlepool Borough Council Peter Devlin— resigned from the CIC just weeks before HMRC filed a bankruptcy petition. This has fuelled speculation that one or more of the CIC's directors may have had prior knowledge of scale of the company’s impending downfall & its reputational impact on those who worked for its parent company Cleveland Fire Authority...

The full fallout from the collapse is still said to be unfolding, but with millions owed and reputations tarnished, questions are now mounting over how a once-profitable, publicly linked enterprise could unravel so quickly, with sources telling The Teesside & Durham Post that "the worst is yet to come".....