RTITB in administration by Jane Sayer • Joint administrators have
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been called into RTITB Services and its wholly owned training subsidiary Centrex after they reported losses in excess of £6m over the past two years.
The companies, which were formed out of the old Road Transport Industry Training Board in 1992, had traditionally relied on government funding.
However, in 1995 RTITB experienced problems with its accreditation system and there were allegations of fraud. This led to a switch from public to private funding and a significant decline in income.
Joint administrator Hunter Kelly says: "During the past two years the businesses had to change their strategy completely after losing quango status. It was impossible to make the changes without the protection of an administration order due to the inherited problems of extremely onerous employee contracts and property leases.
A spokeswoman for Ernst & Young stressed the companies would continue trading as usual with the joint administrators handing back the restructured companies to the directors within a few months. Hunter Kelly and Jon Newell of Ernst & Young plan to cut the 140-strong workforce and shut some of the six offices in Livingston, Telford, St Albans, Leatherhead, Wembley and Leeds.
RTITB Services and Centrex were unavailable for comment.