The firm that operates Aberystwyth Marina has dismissed concerns about its future after a company owned by the same group narrowly avoided being wound up this week – while staff remain unpaid.

Pressure has been growing on The Marine and Property Group Ltd after a significant number of the Y Lanfa site’s 128 berth holders threatened not to pay mooring fees due to the suspected financial instability of the firm.

They called on the owner to hand back the lease to operate the marina to Ceredigion County Council following a catalogue of controversies including staff not being paid, equipment being impounded and disputes with contractors.

Pressure mounted further after a petition from HMRC to wind up Cardiff Marine Services Ltd – a subsidiary company which operates the marina in the Welsh capital – was listed in The Gazette, the official public record.

It prompted berth holders and those close to the marina to voice their concerns that the same fate could be around the corner for Aberystwyth Marina or the group as a whole.

But, after being due to appear in the High Court of Justice in London, the firm’s Switzerland-based director Chris Odling-Smee dismissed fears and revealed it had been granted a temporary reprieve.

He told the Cambrian News: “On the basis of our business credentials and funding lines in place, HMRC has agreed to adjourn any legal proceedings until 14 June (at least) and to allow us to simply make payment.

“As we have repeatedly stated we have funder support. This includes funding for capitalising the business, investing in current locations and, in due course, supporting further acquisitions.

“Business trading is solid, and salaries will be quickly brought up to date.”

The Cambrian News has also heard unfounded suggestions that should the subsidiary firm enter administration, the umbrella company including the other subsidiaries would also meet the same fate. Mr Odling-Smee stopped short of denying this in his response.

There remain only three full-time and three part-time members of staff in Aberystwyth who haven’t been paid their full salaries on time in months – with most still waiting for one or two months’ wages to be paid. There have been numerous resignations.

The Cambrian News put to Mr Odling-Smee the concerns of berth holders and community group Friends of Burry Port – a Carmarthenshire marina also owned by The Marine and Property Group Ltd. But he described the remarks as ‘simply incorrect’.

There are 165 berths at the marina, of which 128 are filled. A group of berth holders, claiming to represent a significant proportion of these, said: "We collectively feel that the rest of the group will follow the same insolvency route over the coming weeks or months through bad practice and mismanagement.”

Friends of Burry Port marina in Carmarthenshire said: "(It) is naturally a concern for all four Welsh marinas managed by them as well as the other Welsh businesses and employees that rely upon this group.

“The nature of the group is almost homogeneous, all centrally managed and financially interlinked, so the concern is that if HMRC has had to take this action on one of the group perhaps they will be looking at the others as well...”

The Marine and Property Group Ltd runs Aberystwyth and Cardiff marinas along with Dinorwic in Gwynedd, Burry Port near Llanelli and Wachet Harbour in Somerset.

At Burry Port, it was revealed this week in a Freedom of Information response that the firm owed rent of just over £137,200 to Carmarthenshire County Council – dating from 2020 to 2022 – and £83,000 in unpaid business rates between 2018-19 and 2022-23.

Mr Odling-Smee said a repayment plan had been agreed with the council and that the outstanding amount was coming down.

“It is tough, but we are not quitters, and we will make it work,” he said.