(From The Orcadian, dated December 6, 2001)

A Kirkwall building firm that went bust last month has left debts totalling more than £500,000, creditors heard this week.

Around 20 local businesses held an informal meeting on Monday to discuss the provisional liquidation of Andrew Tait and Son, and agreed to set up a fighting fund to investigate legal and other options.

The firm called in the liquidators in early November, while working on the second phase of Orkney Housing Association’s Kiln Corner development. The first phase of the development was worth £1.4 million, providing a mix of 22 residential flats and nine ground floor offices.

A number of businessmen attending the meeting on Monday said they were “bitter”, and an insolvency expert from Aberdeen said that he had never attended an informal meeting of creditors where the turnout was so large. It is thought that local companies account for around half the total debt of the company.

A prepared statement for The Orcadian on behalf of the creditors at Monday’s meeting stated: “Many of the suppliers and creditors have expressed concerns about the liquidation. It was felt that a group approach to the provisional liquidator to make serious enquiries was appropriate.”

Orkney Housing Association said yesterday that no contract has yet been awarded to a firm to continue with the second phase of the Kiln Corner development.