A LANGUAGE school which stopped trading at the height of the pandemic is being wound up after most creditors received around a quarter of what they were owed.

Thirty-two jobs were lost with the collapse of MLS International College, which had been trading for 35 years when Covid caused student numbers to collapse in 2020.

MLS International College, based at Westover Chambers in Hinton Road, Bournemouth, once welcomed more than 2,000 students a year from around 40 countries. It offered adults a variety of courses in English, including courses aimed at the aviation industry.

Its staff were put on furlough when the government closed education institutions in March 2020. Its directors appointed liquidators in October 2020, when there was no sign of air travel returning to normal and or of whether overseas students would want to return.

In their latest report to creditors, joint liquidators Mark Boughey and Michael Field of Mazars say 100 unsecured creditors were owed a total of £527,986 and had been paid £123,864.

“In February 2022, a first and final dividend to unsecured creditors of 23.46p in the pound was declared and paid. There will be no further dividend distribution in this matter,” they wrote.

The liquidators had managed to recover £3,000 of the £7,020 the company was owed, but had been unable to collect many of the fees that were to have been guaranteed by the Saudi Arabian embassy.

“It was ascertained that residual debtors were unlikely to be recoverable, as students either did not present the financial guarantees and supporting documentation issued by the Saudi Arabian embassy to the company, or where paperwork was received, it was incorrect. It was also understood that these students returned to Saudi Arabia,” they wrote.

“In addition to the above and as the size of the debts were not off a sufficient quantum to make taking any further action, such as commencing proceedings, cost effective, it was concluded that recovery action should cease.”

Debt collection was hampered by the Covid crisis and by the government’s policy of supporting businesses by suspending the use of winding-up petitions.

In an earlier report, the liquidators said a “number of interested parties” had expressed an interest in the remaining business and assets. However, the discussions came to nothing.

The liquidators expect to finish their work before their next report is due in September 2023.