A BOLTON estate agency and property company has entered into an agreement with its creditors to secure its future.

Miller Metcalfe has been refinanced and reorganised after securing a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).

The agreement means there will be no redundancies and 50 jobs are safe.

The company now says it can concentrate on its core activities and continue its planned growth and expansion.

A CVA can only be proposed by a company if it is insolvent or contingently insolvent and requires the approval of 75 per cent of the voting creditors.

In a statement the company said: “The reorganisation and refinancing process will involve securing a company voluntary agreement (CVA) and that’s not a decision that’s been taken lightly.

“But this innovative approach will provide a longterm solution for the business in this harsh economic climate.”

The statement said the owner of the company, John Fletcher, would become chief executive with immediate effect.

Mr Fletcher, aged 55, bought Miller Metcalfe five years ago and has invested £1 million of his own money into the business in the past three years.

He has had a long and successful career as an entrepreneur in industries as diverse as heavy steel processing and distribution to retail picture framing in locations as far apart as Leeds and Los Angeles.

Now, he aims to bring his wealth of business experience to turning around Miller Metcalfe, building on the CVA and securing the business as a broad based property consultancy, operating throughout the North West.

Semi-retired for the past decade, his experience and success as an entrepreneur is expected to be a valuable resource for Miller Metcalfe given the uncertain economic climate and renewed speculation about a weakening housing market.

In the past 12 months Miller Metcalfe has seen the introduction of a new team of directors, associates and senior management, each a specialist in their respective fields.

Mr Fletcher said: “I bought this business as an investment back in 2005 when, frankly, you could make money as a high street estate agent standing on your head.

“After the collapse of the property market in 2008 we have been facing a rearguard action ever since but thankfully those issues are now behind us. I have put more than £1 million of my own money into the business over the past three years without taking a penny out.

“I have got the support of my family, a committed team of professionals and with the agreement of creditors, we’ll have a fantastic business that will emerge from the reorganisation financially stronger, with no bank debt, competing from a very efficient cost base.

“There is a saying that some of the strongest businesses are built in a recession. Miller Metcalfe will be one of them.”

● A Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) is a procedure which enables a company to reach an agreement with its creditors about how debt is to be repaid. The CVA may provide for partial or full repayment, depending on what the company can reasonably afford to pay.

Creditors do support CVAs if the alternative is liquidation with little or no return to them.

The proposal must, however, be reasonable and achievable.