ISP The Fourth Utility UK Calls in Creditors to Talk Liquidation UPDATE

ISP The 4th Utility (NOT to be confused with the similarly named, but separate, 4th Utility), which on its website claims to be a “leading provider” of gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure to business centres across the UK, appears as if it may be in trouble after they called in creditors on Thursday to discuss appointing a liquidator.

The provider doesn’t seem to have been very active recently, at least we haven’t seen any updates from them in quite a long time. For example, the last update to their Twitter page was in 2019, while the website link to their Facebook page doesn’t seem to work and their LinkedIn entry hasn’t seen any updates – despite claiming to employ between 11-40 staff.

“We were one of the leading suppliers under the Government’s Connection Voucher Scheme (CVS) specialising in providing fibre optic broadband to tenants in Business Centres and other Muti-Tenanted Buildings (MTB’s). From a standing start we generated £4 Million of business in just 18 months and were ranked 10th out of 480 accredited suppliers over the life of the scheme,” claims their LinkedIn page.

However, a post on The Gazette reveals that the provider held a virtual meeting of creditors on Thursday, which was convened by Alexandra Nield for “the purpose provided for in Section 100 of the Insolvency Act 1986.” Section 100 covers appointment of a liquidator – the process of bringing a business to an end and distributing its assets to claimants (i.e. if it becomes insolvent).

“GERALD IRWIN OF IRWIN INSOLVENCY (OFFICE HOLDER NO. 8753), Station House, Midland Drive, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B72 1TU, is a person qualified to act as an Insolvency Practitioner in relation to the above Company and will, during the period before the day of the meeting, furnish creditors free of charge with such information concerning the Company’s affairs as they may reasonably require,” added the statement.

A quick look at the Companies House records for this business doesn’t tell us much, except that they hired and fired a bunch of Directors earlier this year. We attempted to email the provider for a comment over a week ago, but have so far received no response. Sadly, there have been no further announcements made since the meeting was held.

UPDATE 5th August 2021

The latest update states that creditors have voted for “the Company [to] be wound up voluntarily” and have appointed “Gerald Irwin of Irwin Insolvency … [as] Liquidator for the purposes of such winding up.”