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Downturn hits leading estate agency
PART of one of Sheffield's best-known estate agents has gone into liquidation, a victim of the economic downturn.
Saxton Mee Ltd called in administrators but will continue to operate under the same name after it was immediately sold back to directors James Mee and Tim Heaton.
Over recent months, staff numbers have been substantially reduced and offices at Dore and Chesterfield have closed.
Meanwhile, two other sectors of the Saxton Mee portfolio have been separated and will continue as independent companies.
Saxton Mee New Homes Ltd will continue under the stewardship of Linda Crapper, who also acquired the business's Crookes and Hillsborough offices.
And the directors of Saxton Mee Commercial Ltd, which trades as SMC Chartered Surveyors, have completed a buy-out. It also becomes a wholly independent company.
Managing director of the new Saxton Mee Ltd, which will operate from Banner Cross, Dronfield and the Peak District offices in Hathersage and Bakewell, James Mee said: "Along with a lot of other businesses, we have been finding it very hard over the last few months. We have probably been doing around 25 per cent of the business we were doing a year ago.
"We needed to restructure the business and that is what we have done. We are looking to maintain our standing as one of the leading agents in south-west Sheffield and the Peak District and these changes will help us to do that.''
One creditor feared his business would be in jeopardy if he was not paid for services provided to the company: "The fall-out affects so many people."
Jeremy Priestley, of Sheffield-based insolvency practitiioners P&A Partnership, confirmed Saxton Mee Ltd was insolvent and its assets had been disposed of:
"I don't know the extent of the debts. We are still pulling the numbers together."
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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