FORMER Watchet Marina owner Christopher Odling-Smee’s company Marine and Property Group Ltd (MPG) is to be dissolved three years after being placed into administration.

Joint administrator Damian Webb, of RSM, outlined in a report the work carried out since 2023 and said administration would now ‘close by dissolution’.

MPG, which also owned four marinas in Wales and a number of other companies, had total debts of £16,594,886 and assets of £2,810,000.

One secured creditor has to date received £2,696,650, but unsecured creditors owed a total of £2,410,040 have lost all of their money.

Mr Webb said it had not been possible to rescue MPG as a going concern because HMRC had served it with a winding up petition and the company had ‘material other liabilities’ before being put into administration.

He said MPG was materially under-capitalised for 18 months before administration and had been reliant on not paying staff, creditors, suppliers, and finance providers on time.

Trading had been heavily loss-making alongside an unsustainably high central cost base, which led to insolvencies across the group in 2023.

Mr Webb said: “It would have required significant funding from a third party to make the company solvent.

“This was deemed to be unachievable in any event due to the historic levels of debt across the group and poor performance over the previous few years.

“Further to this, there was a lack of financial information that meant any funding would likely occur outside of the desired timeframe to refinance the company.

“The administration appointment was taken ahead of the winding up hearing to ensure the company avoided being wound up via a liquidation.”

Mr Webb said the company’s sale in August, 2024, to Western Marinas Ltd for £4.317 million generated a higher return for its secured creditors than had the group been liquidated.