Woodco Scotland Ltd has ceased trading while creditors wait to find out how much they can expect to recover from the firm.

Woodco, founded by husband-and-wife pair Bob and Sylvia Craine, supplied and erected environmentally-friendly log homes and other timber-framed buildings from its base in Wick.

Last year the firm was among the first batch of companies to secure support from the North Highland Regeneration Fund (NHRF).

It received a £50,000 low-interest loan towards its then export drive. The petition to begin the moves to wind the company up was presented at Wick Sheriff Court by a London couple over a £14,000 debt.

Aberdeen-based insolvency specialist Donald McNaught has since been appointed provisional liquidator and he is expected to call a meeting of the creditors once he establishes the extent of the company's indebtedness.

Woodco's national profile grew when it won the contract to build the Big Brother house for the hit Channel 4 reality series in the spring of 2002.

The order came out of the blue after it built a house for an actor near the set at the Elstree Film Studios in Hertfordshire.

The spec for the three-room house included 60 two-way mirrors to ensure every move of the residents was caught on film.

Three years later, the firm built a log cabin for the set of BBC TV's House of Tiny Tearaways.

Woodco's clients included the National Trust, Epping Forest Council and Kent County Council.

As well as contracts throughout the UK, Woodco's interests extended overseas, including a wooden chalet development in the Limousin region of France.

It had been operating with a workforce of about half a dozen from its workshop in Wick Airport Industrial Estate. Mr McNaught, of Invocas Business Recovery & Insolvency Ltd, said yesterday: "The company has stopped trading and I've been appointed to investigate the assets. My investigation is at a very early stage but once the wind-up order is confirmed I'll be convening a meeting of the creditors and table a report to let them know how much they can expect to get back."

Woodco was one of the first firms to get support from NHRF, which has been underwritten by £1.5 million from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Fund director Neil Robertson yesterday said Woodco had repaid about £12,000 of the £50,000 unsecured loan. He said: "It was very disappointing to learn what has happened to the company.

"As far we understood, Woodco had a fairly full order book but trading conditions for the construction industry are pretty tough just now. Anything in the construction industry is working capital-driven and banks are generally pulling back on the limits they will work to." Mr Robertson said NHRF was involved in risk and expects a small percentage of firms to default on the loans they receive.

"This is the first problem we've encountered so far," he explained. "It is, of course, bad news but it will happen when risk is involved."

Mr Craine could not be contacted at his home near Castletown. It is unclear how the current move will affect Mr Craine's other local business interests.



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