Newton Rigg Ltd has ceased trading and gone into voluntary liquidation.
The company offered rural advice, training, education and knowledge transfer from its base near Penrith.
It was set up to bring back land-based education in Cumbria at the former Newton Rigg College site in late 2020.
However it suffered losses from its involvement in running the Equine Centre on the campus, which closed in April.
The losses have had a knock-on effect on the financial health of the whole organisation. Recently it has struggled to gain sufficient funding to make the business viable, despite seeking support from key organisations that share the company’s aims and values.
The board said it was disappointed that it was not able to continue to pursue their vision for an excellent rural training hub, offering support to Cumbrian farmers and land based businesses to develop and grow.
Over the last few years, it said it was proud to have provided programs covering everything from upskilling dairy and sheep farmers, to well-being courses helping to improve participants mental health.
In particular, courses in horticulture have been successful and applications for 2024/25 were buoyant, the board said.
Rosalind Hilton, licensed insolvency practitioner at Adcroft Hilton, who is advising the board, said: “Unfortunately, sustainable funding for this type of local training organisation is notoriously difficult.
“Following problems with a major project, the board continued to seek new support and funding but were unable to raise enough to cover the cash flow needed.
“The current directors would like to thank everyone who has been involved with the business for their support, from staff and students to those who helped raise funds to try to build a new centre for land based education in Cumbria.”
