A "visionary entrepreneur" who vowed to change the face of modern farming before his business had liquidators appointed last month suffered a similar fate 35 years ago shortly after he touted plans for a Scottish Woollen Craft Village designed to attract 30,000 visitors a year to Newtown St Boswells.
Martin Frost, described by the Berwickshire News in 2018 as principal director of Avocet Infinite PLC (now known as Omega Infinite), told the paper his company was using disruptive technology to revolutionise food and fuel production on farms in Berwickshire.
Following a site visit to one of those farms Councillor Mark Rowley, Scottish Borders Council’s executive member for business & economic development, was quoted in the 'Berwickshire' as saying: “The model is fascinating, I hope it will bring significant investment and employment to the Borders. Berwickshire has an exceptional reputation for agricultural innovation; from James Small’s revolutionary plough to the innovations of liming and marling that were pioneered here.”
“It is
exciting that such new and innovative techniques are now being pioneered by
Avocet and local farms here in the Scottish Borders almost 300 years later.”
And when some of Avocet's 650 shareholders expressed their concerns about the business's situation to The Sunday Times, Ken Stewart, chairman of Africa Forum Scotland described Mr Frost as a 'visionary entrepreneur'.
But within a matter of weeks there were moves to have Avocet Infinite and a subsidiary, Orrdone Farms Ltd. wound up. The latter named firm is now in the hands of administrators with estimated debts of £3.8 million. Liquidators were appointed to the parent company in April by the 'Secretary of State'.
Councillor Rowley's enthusiastic reaction to Mr Frost's claims for the future of farming contrasted sharply with the action taken by his local government predecessors in 1985 when one of Mr Frost's entities in the textile industry defaulted on its business rates.
In a no-nonsense attitude towards its creditors Borders Regional Council (BRC) which delivered local services between 1975 and 1996 moved to close the company down.
The 'get tough' approach resulted in BRC petitioning the Court of Session to have Mr Frost's textile business placed in liquidation and wound up.
A Hall (1982) Ltd., based at Langlands Mill, Newtown St. Boswells and within sight of the council's HQ, owed the authority more than £5,000 (about £15,000 in today's money).
Straight-talking Councillor George Dorward, a retired senior police officer, and vice convener at BRC in 1985 told The Scotsman newspaper: "This is another example of the council's intention to crack down and adopt a hard line with people who get behind with their rates. We have to take a firm stand to be fair to those ratepayers who pay on time".
The Scotsman's report also mentioned the fact that two other companies in which Mr Frost was principal shareholder had recently gone into liquidation..
A Hall (1982) Ltd. was formed after Mr Frost acquired Langlands Mill, a collection of Victorian properties, from a receiver appointed to a 100-year-old spinning company.
Plans were announced for expansion of the mill including the creation of 45 jobs and the establishment of the Scottish Woollen Craft Village which was to transform the local tourist industry.
But Hall's soon encountered financial problems and the entire workforce at the reconstructed business
was made redundant in November 1984. Several months later former employees claimed they were still due thousands of pounds in wages, holiday pay and redundancy money.
Langlands Mill received another visit from insolvency specialists in 1998,this time to a company named Thomson Ecosse Ltd. That firm was the target for a petition to the Court of Session by the Lord Advocate for and on behalf of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue.
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