CBP goes into administration

A long-established Lancashire business and community support organisation has gone into administration.

Blackburn based Community and Business Partners (CBP) can trace its origins back more than 30 years and has grown to deliver business mentoring and coaching across Lancashire and the North West.

The award-winning not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) also set up a membership programme in 2022.

Joint administrators have been appointed from Preston based professional services consultancy Begbies Traynor. 

In a statement it said: “Keeley Lord and Chris Lawton of Begbies Traynor have today been appointed as joint administrators of Community and Business Partners CIC.

“The joint administrators will support and guide the company through a process of administration, working with all stakeholders throughout this process, with a view to attaining the best achievable outcome for all in such difficult circumstances.”

The organisation began life as Blackburn Partnership and after its dissolution in 2005 became CBP, operating from its Energy Zone offices in the town.

In 2023, Lancashire Business View reported that its turnover had grown to more than £1m and it had a specialist bank of 200 industry experts offering business support.

Surplus funds generated through its activities were reinvested into the community through initiatives including multiple food programmes, affordable paint, volunteer opportunities, a community clothing shop, and its Scrap Art and Material Store (SAMS).

Last year it won a bid to facilitate Skills Bootcamps in partnership with Lancashire County Council. The Skills Bootcamp in Procurement project was set up to provide essential training and upskilling opportunities in procurement for individuals who were unemployed or seeking to retrain.

CBP was named top team at the North West Employer Engagement Awards in 2021 and won the Corporate Social Responsibility category in that year’s Red Rose Awards.

No-one from CBP was available for comment.