PART 3 LLP vs LTD? ‘The Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) format of a registered company was originally created to enable the professions to take advantage of limited liability. By registering as a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) the Members (Partners) protect their private assets. If the business fails the Members only lose the money they have actually invested in the Partnership. Tax advantage for the ‘owners’ depends on how much profit the company might make and how much the owners pay themselves.’ Just to recap and refocus, we have now in existence – Canal and River Trust (the Charity); Canal River Trading CIC (Community Interest Company); H2oUrban LLP (Canal & River Trading and bloc Ltd ); now ‘Dreamplot’ another private company enters the scene as actual sales broker and builder and as ever, lurking in the background, British Waterways Marinas Ltd (wholly owned subsidiary of the Charity) just about completes the main players and at the centre; the two acre SITE, the subject of the exercise. The canal and wharf previously shown in reality today and in conceptual appearance for the future, is in the historic City of Lancaster, in proximity to prime tourist locations and has been sold off for luxury housing development. Formerly a BWB maintenance depot, the site contains listed and modern buildings with stone edged wharf water frontage and close to a Conservation Area. The land and its buildings it could be argued, was highly suitable for updating to serve as a modern maintenance facility, eminently placed and practical, waiting only to be updated and re-energised, as a hub to service the canal infrastructure but with a 21st Century leisure focus and Heritage function. It had great dual-potential not only as to a skill-training centre, but also as a practical sub-headquarters for administration of this unique and most northern coastal canal, instead of the dilapidated, incongruous Galgate site which is essentially a soul-less BWML. enterprise and sanitary station and home to a small disillusioned C&RT workforce. Rather than restore and enhance its position as a practical canal focused resource as had been its original purpose, the custodians charged with its stewardship have quietly hived off this potential jewel in the crown of the Lancaster Canal, for apparently a short term financial gain. Apart from its loss to our local and national industrial heritage, it has been sold off with planning permission for homes on 14 plots, some with waterside frontage including one with an ‘almost affordable’ £400k price-tag it includes the conversion to dwellings the two listed buildings. In the sousing context and by way of comparison, a 2 acre site in Bolton has planning permission to produce for 32 houses, which one would be lead to expect that Lancaster City Council do not see the need or desirability of ‘affordable’ housing. C&RT’s apparent lack of foresight or desire to preserve and enhance our canal heritage is sadly all too evident. So apart from being the actual building developers, who is this Dreamplot? the outfit that also likes to brand itself with the lower-case logo ‘plot you may ask. Bit like ‘bloc’ you may think and you’d be right. Check out the mug-shots of the people from bloc [blocgroup.org/people] and the people from plot [dreamplot.net/about-us/] and surprise-surprise, it’s the same cheery faces running both businesses. The company that loves its lower-case image and its 50% co-partner/director status in H2o LLP, same as CRTrading CIC, is also immune from liability if things go udders-up. It’s a very nice business model for any private limited company, with no comebacks apart from a nice slice of the profits. Cushty my son, Cushty – or even LovlyJubly as one might say – of course, in lower case if you prefer. Don’t we all wish, that C&RT concentrated on learning how to run the national (for now at least- who knows?) waterways as efficiently and focused as one would expect of the custodians of such a national treasure. Hody-Hum. Part 4 will allow you to judge whether C&RT is acting in the spirit of it’s creation.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 12:18:01 +0000
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