By nature I am curious. So when Paul (of Waterways Routes) left a comment regarding the recent breach of the Bridgewater Canal I started thinking about ownership of the canal and how much land was actually owned.
The Bridgewater Canal is approximately 60km long. Effectively a linear water park. But how much property is owned; apart from the canal bed and what is it’s value?
Peel Holding purchased the canal and they appear to have a very diverse and convoluted grouping of sub companies. The Bridgewater Canal website states:
“The Bridgewater Canal is owned and operated by The Bridgewater Canal Company Limited, part of Peel L&P, in conjunction with the Bridgewater Canal Trust. Bridgewater Canal Company Limited is a statutory body responsible for navigation and maintenance of the Bridgewater Canal.”
Interestingly Peel L&P appears to have been decommissioned as of 1 April 2024. What happened to the Bridgewater Canal Company Limited; a statutory body required by law to maintain the canal?
A perusal of the records for the Bridgewater Canal Company at Companies House allowed me to look at their latest Director’s Report for the year ending 31 March 2024. The first thing that caught my eye was the paragraph titled “Going concern”
The director’s report the company has net current liabilities. However the directors report Peel L&P will continue to support the company to enable it to continue to operate for the next 12 months. You may have realised Peel L&P was decommissioned the following day (1 April 2024). The Director’s Report was for the period ending 31 March and was submitted on 29 November 2024 eight months after the decommissioning.
[Definition of Net Current Liabilities
Net current liabilities refer to the current assets less current liabilities of an organisation. To have net current liabilities, the current liabilities must be larger than the current assets. This is usually because the company has very little inventories or does not give credit and therefore has no receivables. Alternatively it could indicate that the business is insolvent.]
Under fixed assets the company had as at 31 March 2024.
Tangible Assets £21,458
Investment property £17,480,000
Loans to group undertakings £5,879,250
Total £23,380,708
After Deducted Liabilities the total is £18,603,376
Cash in the bank £20,158
There is insufficient detail in the report to identify whether the company is self-insured, insured by Peel Holdings or has independent insurance coverage. Nor is there and detail regarding the scope of the ‘Investment property’. Is it the canal; or more?
My conclusion is the Bridgewater Canal Company Ltd continues to exist and is has a statutory responsibly to maintain the canal. However one gets the impression their is insufficient revenue to support the business. Hence the comment about Pell L&P support. But Pell L&P apparently not longer exists?
It becomes slightly more confusing because their is a Canal Trust on the Bridgewater Canal website
“The Bridgewater Canal Trust. The trust meets twice a year and formulates the long and short-term policies for the amenity use of the Bridgewater Canal. All income generated by the Bridgewater Canal from pleasure craft, fishing, drainage and sales of water for cooling purposes etc is used to maintain and improve the canal and its local environment.”
The above paragraph makes me wonder whether there are any additional sources of income?
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