Entrepreneur agrees settlement over liquidated firm

A West Midlands entrepreneur has agreed a settlement with creditors after his former apprentice training business was liquidated amid claims it owed £8.4m.

Private training provider GB Training (UK) Ltd was run by Lawrence Barton, whose high-profile roles include director of Birmingham Pride.

The firm collapsed in October 2020, with allegations it owed money to bodies including the government's Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

The settlement was confirmed in a statement from Mr Barton and liquidator Kevin Mawer, which said a confidential "distribution" had been made to creditors and denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Barton, who was also Birmingham's first night-time economy champion in 2022 and serves as a West Midlands deputy lord lieutenant, said he was glad the five-year process had reached a conclusion.

"I am happy a line has been drawn under it with all the parties involved and I'm now looking forward to continuing my community and business activities," he added.

Mr Mawer said he was pleased an agreement had been reached, with creditors recovering "some of their claims".

The ESFA and WMCA, which funded training carried out by GB Training (UK) Ltd, had claimed they were owed £4.76m and £1m respectively, with the North East Surrey College of Technology also claiming £2.63m.

According to a report from the liquidator filed with Companies House, the ESFA raised concerns about "potential irregularities" in June 2020.

Among the ESFA's concerns, according to the document, was that it had contacted two people who were supposed to have completed training but who stated they "had never done an apprenticeship".

The WMCA also confirmed to the BBC previously that it had written to the liquidator to raise concerns.

Mr Barton said the allegations of "funding overclaims" by the ESFA and others were never proven and the settlement "in no way represents an acceptance of any culpability or guilt on the matter".

"I remain concerned about the conduct of the investigation, the devastating impact it had on the company which I had worked more than 20 years to create and the loss of jobs and services to learners that ensued," he added.

The WMCA has been contacted for a comment and the ESFA previously said it would not comment on individual cases.

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