Avon House Preparatory School in Woodford Green, Essex, has announced it will not reopen in September, citing financial pressures. The private school, which has been open for over a century, will close with immediate effect, leaving pupils to find places at other schools.
Closure announced with 'much sadness'
The school's website states: "It is with much sadness that we are announcing the closure of the school with immediate effect." A letter was sent to parents and carers on August 4, informing them of the closure due to 'financial pressures'.
The school was founded over 100 years ago under the name Essex House before being renamed in the early 1950s. It has been based on its current site since 1965.
Financial issues and VAT impact
The statement on the website continues: "We have explored a number of options to try and save the school from closure but in recent days it became obvious that was not meant to be. The school has struggled with financial pressures including the introduction of VAT on school fees and the rise in NI and pension costs."
The last publicly available accounts show amounts falling due within one year of £1,788,442. Parents were informed: "Despite every effort to secure a sustainable future for the school, including exploring opportunities for investment, merger and sale, it has not been possible to find a financially viable way forward," reports EssexLive.
Administrators appointed
Philip James Watkins and Philip Lewis Armstrong, both of FRP Advisory Trading Limited, were appointed administrators on August 7. Avon House welcomed children from age three until year six and cost parents yearly fees of up to £17,895 per child.
The school is the latest in a line of private institutions that has announced its closure partly due to the introduction of VAT on school fees. Stoke College, in Stoke-by-Clare, Suffolk, which operated as a school since 1954, shut for the final time on July 1.
