The boss of a firm selling vans has spoken of his upset after the company went bust.
Kevin Owen, managing director of the VANshop, in Hempton Road, Fakenham, has liquidated the 15-year-old firm which has now ceased trading.
Two full-time members of staff have been made redundant along with Mr Owen himself and also his wife, a fellow director. Several casual van delivery drivers also lost their jobs.
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VANshop sponsored Fakenham Town football club and Mr Owen 57, who lives in Little Dunham, also gave financially backing to a five-a-side tournament in the summer held at Fakenham's ground.
He has been a big supporter of local business through his involvement with local networking group, BNI Wensum, himself giving a feature presentation to the group earlier this year. And the business also supported a local Mini racing team with his VANshop logo adorning their cars.
Mr Owen said: "I want to get the message across that I haven't tried to line my own pockets and disappear. There are lots of contributory factors; I want people to know it wasn't intentional. It's the market place, and the political uncertainty, people just weren't buying anything.
"Many of my customers are my friends, who I've dealt with for years so it has upset me but I am speaking to customers and trying to deal with the situation the best I can."
Insolvency firm McTear, Williams & Wood, with an office in Norwich, are liquidating two separate businesses, Multi Auto Limited, trading as VANshop, which sold new and used vehicles and also its servicing arm Fakenham Van Centre.
Tony Harrison, an associate at McTear, Williams & Wood, said: "VANshop has ceased trading and the premises are closed."
He said they were in the process of assessing the business' assets - which did not include the premises - and also its liabilities and compiling the information required to write to all the creditors. He added that he had already had a number of calls for customers who were affected.
He added: "It is very early days but it is unlikely creditors will receive anything back."
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