Letter: Creditors of V&A catalogue fiasco

Sir: I am delighted by the letter (15 February) from Michael Cass, managing director of V&A Enterprises, in which he says, 'we will not cease our efforts until everybody is satisfied'.

I realise he is referring to customers of the V&A catalogue, which collapsed last December, but I also hope he includes its suppliers, who have been waiting for some time for a positive announcement from the V&A. In the report just released by Touche Ross, the unsecured creditors amount to pounds 3.756m, of which pounds 2.567m is the estimated amount due to trade creditors. This will be of interest to all those who, like ourselves, have supplied Design Marketing Ltd with goods for the V&A catalogue but have not been paid, as well as those members of the public who have ordered and paid for goods but have not yet received them. Will the V&A Museum, through its V&A Enterprises Company, be making good the losses incurred by customers and suppliers alike?

Second, what steps will the V&A Museum take to ensure that any new contract issued to set up a replacement catalogue has adequate protection for its suppliers?

Yours faithfully

T. B. HARWARD

Inside-Out Designs

Brighton,

East Sussex

20 February