Hartlepool Business Crashes into Insolvency with Half-Million-Pound's of Debts...
- teessidetoday
- Nov 6
- 3 min read
The Teesside & Durham Post recently announced the collapse of the Hartlepool Business, but the scale of its problems have now only just become fully known, as claimed eight members of staff have lost their jobs just six weeks before Christmas...
6th November 2025
The scale of the collapse of a Hartlepool Based Business which was placed into Liquidation just days ago has finally become known, as its claimed all those working for the business are expected to lose their jobs.
Stadium Consumer Products Limited, which traded online as Watsons on the Web, officially entered liquidation on the 30th October 2025, with a staggering £500,798 total deficiency, according to its most recently filed statement of affairs presented to the liquidators.
The document, signed on 27 October 2025 by company director Anthony Finegan and prepared by insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP, reveals a grim financial picture for the firm which was established back in 2001— one that suggests creditors will now see little, if any, of their money returned.
£387,000 in creditor claims
The company’s creditors list reads like a roll call of major institutional lenders and tax bodies, with the largest claims said to include:
HSBC Bank Plc – Owed £246,592 across multiple business loans and overdrafts
HM Revenue & Customs (VAT & PAYE) – Owed £87,600 combined
Employees and directors – Owed £104,991 owed in unpaid redundancy, notice pay and loans
Supplier (WayJyer, London) – Owed £36,148
In total, these debts add up to £387,340, leaving the firm with a total shortfall of just over half a million pounds (£500,798) once shareholder equities are factored in.
Firms Assets worth just £9,000
Against this mountain of debt, its claimed the company declared just £9,000 in realisable assets — mainly comprising old stock and equipment, with other assets listed as “uncertain.”
The fixed and floating charge holders, including the firms main source of funding HSBC, are expected to recover nothing once the liquidation process concludes, as there are said to be no tangible assets left to distribute after preferential claims are settled.
HMRC and employees at the back of the queue
While the Insolvency Act grants certain “preferential” status to employees’ holiday pay and HMRC claims, the statement indicates there are insufficient assets to meet even those liabilities. In practical terms, it means that neither the tax authorities nor the workforce are likely to see repayment.
Stadium Consumer Products, based at Tofts Farm Industrial Estate, Brenda Road, was once part of the Stadium group of companies known for producing consumer electrical and lighting products. Its trading name, Watsons on the Web, reflected its later move into online retailing. The liquidation however marks the end of a yet another local employer that, at its height, provided steady work in Hartlepool’s manufacturing sector. The final accounts depict a company simply overwhelmed by debt — much of it accumulated through pandemic-era recovery loans and banking facilities that failed to reverse its decline.
Joint liquidators Ian James Royle and David Adam Broadbent of Begbies Traynor are now tasked with realising any remaining assets and distributing proceeds in line with insolvency law. Given the scale of the shortfall, experts expect unsecured creditors will recover less than 2 pence in the pound, if anything at all.
