Key social enterprise charity collapses and 15 staff made redundant

A key Manchester charity which helps social enterprises across the city has gone into administration, with 15 staff being made redundant.

Over the last 40 years Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO), which is based at St Thomas Centre in Ardwick, has become a hub for voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations to obtain funding and expertise.

But it has hit financial trouble over last few years and it has now called in administrators as its business model was 'no longer viable'. Some 15 members of staff have been made redundant. It's latest accounts up to March showed revenue of £3.3m but expenditure of £3.6m.

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Emma Mifsud and Charles Turner, of Opus Restructuring LLP, have been appointed as joint administrators and they are now 'exploring the possibility of rescuing some elements of the organisation by transferring them to other partners', according to a note posted on GMCVO's website.

It went on that 'in recent times GMCVO has faced challenges as a result of its business model no longer being viable, loss of certain contracts and experiencing income shortfalls from some activities'.

Some staff of the charity have been kept on 'to assist the process' of administration, according to the bulletin.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Combined Authority said: "We are saddened to hear of the financial difficulties facing Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO), one of our key partners in work to drive social and economic inclusion across Greater Manchester. In particular, our thoughts are with the employees who are facing redundancy.

“As we have funded/supported several projects with GMCVO, we are currently working with the Administrators to explore options for the future of this work, at this challenging time."

Part of this work is exploring whether the charity's social investment arm can be transferring to GMCA, said the statement.

The statement continued: "These include transferring GMCVO's social investment function (that lends to social enterprises in the region), as well as how best to continue the work delivering the GM VCFSE Accord.

"We recognise the financial and operational pressures facing many organisations in the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector – for those in the sector needing advice and support, please contact your local infrastructure organisation https://10gm.org.uk/local-areas/"