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Bleak future for research firm
A market research company that has been crippled by the non-payment of a client’s bill is going into administration.
The 19 staff at Opera Group, which is based just south of Norwich, have been told that the money has run out and a rescue package is needed if the business is to survive.
Steven Colling, chairman of Opera, had his worst fears confirmed yesterday afternoon when he met insolvency specialists.
“We will certainly now enter administration,” Mr Colling said.
“We will continue to see investors or backers over the next few weeks, but the prospects don’t look good.”
The problems began when Opera – which is based at Keswick Hall – opened an office in Cambridge following a good 2004. But that venture proved to be an expensive mistake, resulting in a £100,000 loss last year.
Although Opera began this year with a full order book, the burden of last year’s loss left the business in a vulnerable position.
The company restructured its debt through a creditors’ voluntary arrangement (CVA) earlier this year, meaning Opera could repay its creditors and continue conducting research. But it left the company in a weakened position, with little in the way of reserves.
The situation has come to a head with the failure of one of Opera’s customers to pay a £30,000 invoice for a contract that was completed in May.
“For a company of our size, that is a significant amount of money,” Mr Colling said.
And that unpaid invoice and the lack of credit facilities were compounded when another customer got cold feet and withdrew its business.
“If that business had stuck with us and we didn’t have the CVA then I think we could have worked through it,” Mr Colling said.
“A CVA is a good vehicle for restructuring debt, but it left us in a weak position in terms of getting credit.”
Unless someone can come up with a rescue package, the future looks bleak for Opera, which Mr Colling founded in 1993.
“Opera has continually won projects from regional, national and international clients over the last 13 years – working in countries as diverse as Singapore, Australia, Russia and America,” Mr Colling said.
“Things have not always been easy, but over the past few years Opera has brought more than £5m of income into the local economy.”
Mr Colling also faces the possibility that the failure of Opera could have a detrimental effect on a second research agency he launched last month.
Onearth – based alongside Opera at Keswick Hall – claims to be the first agency of its kind to deal solely with organisations committed to creating a more sustainable future.
East Anglian Daily Times