Firm 'under new ownership' after last company was liquidated owing over £800k |
Dog Training College, which had offices at Broadland Business Park in Norwich, says it is now operating under a company called K9-WW Limited.
The company was incorporated at the end of February and is registered at an address on the island in the Irish Sea, according to filings on the Isle of Man Companies Registry.
Dog Training College was previously operated by Innovaze Ltd, which entered liquidation in January owing creditors more than £800,000.
Dog Training College, previously had offices at Broadland Business Park in Norwich (Image: Newsquest)
Students who paid thousands for courses to become qualified dog trainers have been unable to access the college's online learning platform since the end of last year, when they say it shut down without warning.
However, students received an email from Dog Training College around a fortnight ago saying it is "now open under new ownership" and that it is restoring their access to the platform.
Some are believed to have regained access, while others have not.
"K9-WW Limited, a newly incorporated and wholly independent company, owns DTC," the email read.
It continued: "We are still working to restore app functionality. In the interim, you can log in via the dtc-vault.com website using a web browser to continue your studies".
The new company, K9-WW, is registered at an address at Woodbridge Court, in Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man.
The island is not part of the UK and has its own parliament, laws and tax systems, meaning its company information is on the Isle of Man government's Companies Registry, not Companies House.
Its directors are Lynne Allan and John Lim Artil, according to company filings.
Innovaze Ltd, which previously traded as Dog Training College, appointed liquidators in January after HMRC filed a petition to wind it up over unpaid tax debts.
It owed the tax office more than £800,000 in VAT and PAYE, as well as more than £80,000 to 23 trade creditors, according to its statement of affairs on Companies House.
Accreditation for Dog Training College's courses ended in August last year, meaning students who completed courses since then would not be certified by the CPD Standards Office, as advertised by the company.
The company's director was Ben Nichols, who was thought to be running the business alongside his sister, Roxanne Gray.
Roxanne Gray was previously employed by Dog Training College and is the sister of Ben Nichols (Image: Supplied)
Ms Gray said she was previously employed by the firm, working in sales.
The pair were believed to have set up another business called British Canine Academy earlier this year.
Ms Gray denied any involvement with the business, despite previously being named and pictured as the founder and CEO on its website, which was later removed.
Roxanne Gray has denied any involvement with British Canine Academy, despite previously being named and pictured as the founder and CEO on its website, which was later removed (Image: Supplied)
"I was considering being the public-facing person of the business, but I chose not to go ahead with it," she said, speaking to this newspaper last month.
She added: “It wasn’t me that put it on the website”, but she did not say who did.
When asked who was running British Canine Academy, she said: “There is an owner, but I’m not in a position to disclose their identity”.
The British Canine Academy website appears to have been taken down, and the business is currently described as 'permanently closed' on Google.
Ms Gray said she has found a new full-time job, which is not associated with either Dog Training College or British Canine Academy.
When asked about the new owners of Dog Training College, she said: “New owners have acquired the assets of the business.
"I don’t know their full names or anything like that, but I know there are new owners that have bought it and have promised to give students everything, so they haven’t lost out."
Dog Training College was approached for comment.