ONE of the best-known business training establishments in York is going into liquidation, with the loss of 11 permanent and 13 temporary jobs.

York Business College, which over 14 years became a training focus for some of the city's biggest employers, including Norwich Union and Nestle, has now closed.

A creditors' meeting will be held at its headquarters, the illustrious Riverside House beside the Ouse, on May 21.

Liquidator Mike Saville, of Grant Thornton in Leeds, said today: "We are still scrutinising accounts, but we know there is going to be fairly little chance of a dividend to unsecured creditors." The number of individual and corporate clients affected was still being ascertained, he said.

The closure also means an end to the college's recruitment arm, YBC Recruitment.

Nigel Hildred, the college's commercial director, described the closure as "a matter of huge, huge regret" but declined to comment further at this stage.

He said: "I am not ready to talk about what people most want to know - namely the reasons. It is all so fresh and so emotive and I would rather leave comments until another day."

The collapse of the college, which is reckoned to have trained about 50,000 people, mostly business employees, comes six months after Margaret Taylor, the founder and principal, left to take up a new executive post at the Trinity Academy in Edinburgh.

She sold her financial interests in the college to Mr Hildred and company chairman Michael Milburn.

The collapse is ironic given that she and Mr Hildred bought the York Centre of Excellence, as it was then known, from the liquidators 14 years ago.

Mrs Taylor relayed a message to the Evening Press that she did not want to comment.

Updated: 11:29 Wednesday, April 30, 2003