At the end of january, it still sounded as if there was a small chance of averting the worst-case scenario: in the coming weeks, he would work with the board of directors to find a "viable continuation solution" to preserve as many jobs as possible, klaus-christof ehrlicher said. The coburg specialist lawyer was appointed preliminary insolvency administrator after the arbeits- und sozial centrum oberer frankenwald (asco) filed for insolvency with the coburg district court.
What has broken down
Now it is clear: there will be no such solution. "Unfortunately, it is not possible to continue operations after the proceedings have been opened", ehrlicher announced in a press release on friday. The order situation simply does not allow for further employment of the 45 employees. March is the "weakest month in terms of sales, as activities in the gardening and landscaping sector cannot be planned due to weather conditions", declares insolvency administrator ehrlicher.
Although a "promising" business situation had initially emerged, the the first signs of a continuation of the project were there, but this has since been shattered. There are no interested parties for a takeover or a continuation of the remaining business areas of the non-profit association.
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The majority of employees must be released from work for this reason. Only a few employees will continue to be employed for the upcoming settlement work. After that asco will be a thing of the past. "It is of course regrettable that this necessary step has been taken and that it is not possible to continue the business", says ludwigsstadt’s mayor timo ehrhardt (SPD), who also took over the chairmanship of asco. "Unfortunately, this is the logical step due to the general situation."
Asco was founded in 1999 with the main goal of giving people with disabilities, the long-term unemployed and older workers a chance on the second labor market. The areas of operation included gardening and landscaping, handyman services, winter services and quality control. At the time when the insolvency application was filed, the business area of quality control had in fact already been discontinued, according to the press release. In the other areas, however, the business operations could be "fully continued" during the preliminary insolvency proceedings can.
"Very sad and bad"
Not only in ludwigsstadt city hall is the mood cloudy. The shock is still deep in teuschnitz, where the club will still be based until it is dissolved. The majority of the employees – who now have to look for new jobs – also come from the municipal area. "We have to process that now", says mayor gabi weber (CSU). "This is all very sad and bad."
Her first task is to inform the city council. Finally, the administration community would like to have its ground maintenance work exported by asco. It is not yet clear by whom these claims will be executed in the future. "But we will certainly not found a new company on the part of the city", emphasizes weber. "We have always hoped that someone would take over." but the municipality could not afford this. "This is not an issue!"
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The insolvency application was triggered by investigations by customs, which began in the summer of 2018. The accusation: unauthorized temporary employment – better known as temporary work (we reported exclusively).
Due to the pending proceedings, the central employment agency in nurnberg had imposed a work stoppage, explained wolfgang hammerschmidt, the association’s long-time managing director, at the time. The insolvency is therefore a direct consequence of the proceedings.