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Birmingham Press publisher CJB Media collapses owing £343,186

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

November 18, 2010 | 2 min read

It has been revealed that CJB Media, the publishing company behind the now defunct Birmingham Press, closed last month owing £343,186.

CJB withdrew from the ‘Birmingham newspaper war’ after the city’s estate agents returned to rival Trinity Mirror-owned publications.

Liquidator Begbies Traynor wrote to all creditors detailing money owed by CJB Media and its founder and director Chris Bullivant (pictured). The list included journalists, solicitors Irwin Mitchell and Lloyds TSB, as well as £145,000 owed to Bullivant himself, a director's loan invested by the founder, while his other company Bullivant Media Ltd is owed £23,177.30.

Irwin Mitchell is owed £2,162.59 and Lloyds TSB Commercial is owed £1,527.96, while more than £37,000 is owed to individual journalists who freelanced for the short-lived title – some of them left with individual debts of up to £9,000 following the newspaper’s demise.

These include: Rosalind Dodd, owed £8,935.89; George Dobell, owed £5,500; Dave Ismay, owed £4,465; Neville Boyd-Maunsell, owed £3,800; Ian Peasley, owed £3,775; owed £3,360; Annette Rubery, owed £2,236; Mike Davies, owed £1,200; John Duckers, owed £2,030; Jayne Howarth, owed £1,055; David Baldwin, owed £908; and Tony Collins, owed £210.

It is as yet unknown what debts can be met through the liquidation of CJB Media's assets, with Begbies Traynor warning “the level of return to creditors is highly speculative until such time as the Company's affairs are fully wound up”.

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