The liquidation of Turkish producer wholesaler Nartek, which was based at new Spitalfields market, has been blamed on poor cash flow management.
According to reports, wholesalers and importers, particularly in the UK and the Netherlands are owed a total of more than £2 million, with companies also affected in Belgium, France, Poland and Jordan.
Official liquidation firm Panos Eliades Franklin & Co said the Turkish wholesaler went into liquidation on 6 February, and confirmed it is now in the process of retrieving money owed to the company, so that it can pay its debts. Partner Panos Eliades, said that money owed to the company would be enough to cover debts to creditors, providing it can be retrieved.
He added that one of the company’s directors had invested £500,000 of his own money, which had also been lost: “Nartek owes £2.2m to around 150 creditors. It was a case of money was going out quicker than it was going in. If we regained all the money, everyone would be paid off, but this could take another six to nine months.
“The company should have concentrated more on collecting the money due to them. The reason I will need time is that some, not all, of the people that owe money operate from a stall and not from a shop, which makes it more difficult to sue if push comes to shove.”
At the end of January Dutch company Marni Fruit BV issued a public message warning of unpaid invoices and refusal to answer telephone or email queries at Nartek.
