VAR NBW goes bust after FY13 numbers hit by horsemeat scandal

Sheffield firm makes all staff redundant after appointing administrators

VAR Networks by Wireless has hit the wall, following a rough ride in 2013 – caused in part by the horsemeat scandal.

According to a brief statement on its website, joint administrators Sarah O'Toole, Fraser Gray, and Simon Wilson – all of insolvency practitioner Zolfo Cooper – were appointed last week. Calls to the company switchboard went unanswered, and a statement issued to CRN by Zolfo Cooper confirms that all 26 employees have been let go.

"The company ceased trading on appointment, 12 September 2014, and regrettably all employees were made redundant," said the statement. "The administrators are now undertaking a sale process."

The company's most recently available annual accounts, for the year to 30 June 2013, show sales plummeting and losses spiraling. Revenue stood at £2.64m, down about a third from the £3.9m figure of the prior year.

Meanwhile, net losses shot up from £321,708 in FY12 to £852,821 last year.
The directors' report for the year claims that the company enjoyed "a steadily growing upturn in orders" in the second half of the year, but "was significantly affected by factors outside its control".

"The most significant [of these] being the horsemeat scandal in early 2013, which delayed delivery of a £0.7m order, [which is] now under way."

The firm ended the year with a shareholders' deficit of £704,070, compared with a positive balance of £148,851 at the close of the preceding year. At FY13 year-end NBW owed a total of almost £3.8m to creditors, including £850,168 to trade creditors.

The directors' report reveals that "following significant restructuring" after the end of FY13, the firm made a 35 per cent reduction in "non-core" staff numbers. At the time of its demise, the company employed 19 people in its Sheffield headquarters and another seven at an outpost just outside Cardiff.

"The business has been EBITDA-positive for the 2013/14 financial year [so far]... and is expected to remain profitable from January 2014 onwards," adds the report.

"The directors have produced cashflow forecasts for the following 18-month period which show an appropriate level of headroom within the company's banking facilities."

The company was founded in 1998, according to its website, and its vendor partners include Meru, Proxim, Ceragon, Alvarion, Aviat, and Cambium Networks. It claims to have sold extensively to both the enterprise and public sector.