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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Liquidators descend on Scottish charity

This news post is over 6 years old
 

MAKLab had offered resources to people from all backgrounds in Glasgow, Dumfries and Wick

A charity which provided creative workspace for innovators has fallen into liquidation.

Liquidators have been called in at MAKLab - which had two facilities in Glasgow – after a winding up order was sought at the end of last month.

The charity had been focused on providing resources for people from all backgrounds, ages and abilities to physically make procucts and artwork.

This was seen as a means of promoting social empowerment, regeneration, economic growth and social capital.

Set-up in 2010, MAKLab operated a design studio at Charing Cross, an industrial site in Commerce Street and further studios in Dumfries and Wick. The organisation also provided facilities such as 3D printing and vinyl cutting.

OSCR records – last updated in March - show that the organisation’s charity status was Not Submitted and that accounts for 2016 which were due in the spring were overdue.

A winding-up order granting liquidation of the company was issued on 27 July, with the company unable to pay its debts. Thomas MacLennan was appointed as a provisional liquidator and the company’s website went down this week.

In 2015, the charity brought in £181,815 with an expenditure of £271,588 – compared to £312,561 for income and £193,640 in outgoings for the previous year.

The organisation’s 2015 accounts said that it had been a challenging year, with a number of large projects being delayed by funding partners, but that investment had put MAKLab in a strong position. The company had planned expansion into Paisley and Stirling.

MAKLab had previously received a grant from Google in 2014, but accounts showed that levels of funding had dropped in 2015.

 

Comments

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Sandra Marshall
over 6 years ago
This should not have happened. It did so because of short-sightedness, the relationship with needing ever more finance and the lack of industry support in helping the charity stay within its limits. People with vision think big and want to benefit as many as possible especially in creative industries. I can see what has happened here because of my own experience. It is a real shame. There is no one person to blame and I hope that someone picks up the load and the idea is worked on again and developed further now the worst is out the way and lessons can be learned. Grew too big, too fast, did not take care of itself, tried to accommodate too much at the beginning. I did that the first time round but is not the end just the beginning and this concept should have been successful.
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Tony Beattie
over 6 years ago
I have to say, while it is disappointing, if you read read between the lines and look at the level of funding that has been secured in the past it would suggest poor financial management. While no one should be condemned for big ideas, every organisation must operate within their means and it would appear that spending and growth were not controlled. If I'm right, they also neglected to pay their appropriate HMRC bills which amounted to a considerable amount. Reckless is perhaps a term I would use.
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