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Maverick city property tycoon forced to call in administrators
ONE of Yorkshire's biggest property developers KW Linfoot - the firm behind the mothballed Lumiere scheme – has gone into administration, blaming "continued difficulties" in the banking and financial sectors.
The Leeds-based firm, which is owned by entrepreneur Kevin Linfoot, said that in the last 12 months banks have "effectively strangled" the business and denied it any opportunity to trade through the downturn.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, Mr Linfoot said he was 'very sad' about what had happened but added: "I am a big supporter of Leeds and I will not disappear. I'm a maverick and I will still be here in 20 years."
Mr Linfoot has been responsible for a large part of the regeneration of Leeds city centre. Current projects include the Lumiere skyscraper and Manor Mills in Leeds and the Manyoo development in Manchester.
The firm said all three schemes were unaffected and would be taken over by their joint venture partners. The KW Linfoot team would continue to manage their construction, sale and legal completion.
Plans for Lumiere were put on hold last year. Mr Linfoot said he believes the scheme will still go ahead once the property market improves and said buyers' deposits would be protected.
A statement by Frasers Property, partners with KW Linfoot in the Lumiere project, added: "In light of developments relating to KW Linfoot, Frasers Property will undertake a review of all their options regarding Lumiere. At present, no final decisions have been made."
Gary Blackburn and Paul Whitwam, of BWC Solutions in Leeds, were appointed joint administrators with solicitors Irwin Mitchell in Leeds.
Mr Blackburn said Mr Linfoot had sold off much of his property portfolio but administrators would look at what was left and decide whether or not to put it into liquidation.
Background
HE was one of the pioneers of city living but Kevin Linfoot's multi-million pound empire was last night in ruins.
The high-flying entrepreneur was one of the driving forces behind the regeneration of Leeds, including the city's tallest building, the 32-storey Bridgewater Place.
But yesterday he admitted he had to sell his helicopter and a fleet of cars after his company KW Linfoot was put into administration.
The crowning glory of his property portfolio was due to be the 225m landmark Lumiere development in Leeds, a design consisting of two towers – one 55 storeys high (559ft), which would be Europe's tallest skyscraper, and the other 33 storeys (367ft).
But the project to build 952 homes in the city centre was put on hold last summer until the market improves.
Since then Mr Linfoot and his company have sought to reduce their business costs by reducing staff, selling most of the firm's extensive property portfolio and reducing outstanding bank debt from 55m to 2.6m.
Yesterday, he confirmed there were debts of 2.3m to be paid back to secured creditors as well as 300,000 to unsecured creditors, which he hopes the administration process will cover.
But Mr Linfoot, who grew up on a pig farm near York and left school unable to read or write, insisted he and his team would bounce back and said they were already collaborating on new ventures.
He said the firm would diversify its portfolio and plans to turn the financial slump to his advantage by buying up struggling businesses.
Mr Linfoot's first job at the age of 17 was as a carpenter's apprentice. He bought a share in a joiner's shop after winning a 1,800 compensation payout following a motorcycle smash. A year later he sold the shop for 18,000.
He started his company KW Linfoot in 1981 and in 2007, the Sunday Times Rich List ranked Mr Linfoot as the 490th richest person in Britain and Ireland with a personal fortune of 145m. It ranked his businesses as being worth around 90m.
On hearing the news of the administration, Leeds property agent Jonathan Morgan said: "Kevin came into the city centre market before most others. He believed in it and put his money where his mouth was.
"His schemes also attracted a lot of positive publicity that brought national and international attention to Leeds."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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