THE OWNER of the historic Mechanics’ Institute once pursued through the courts by the council has resurrected his former firm.

Mystery surrounds the return of Forefront Estates Ltd, which was dissolved in 2012 after Swindon Borough Council took the company to the High Court over debts incurred repairing the dilapidated building.

This week, council bosses said they were looking at options for clawing back cash spent on emergency repairs during the company’s absence.

When Matthew Singh dissolved Forefront Estates Ltd in 2012 ownership of the Mechanics’ Institute transferred to the Crown under corporation rules called bona vacantia.

But an application to restore Forefront Estates was approved in August last year, with all assets previously owned by the company returned to it by the Treasury Solicitor. Matthew Singh changed his name to Sarabjit Singh Dhanoa with Companies House. Dhanoa is now listed as the sole director of the company.

The return of Forefront Estates raises questions over the future for the Mechanics’ Institute, built in 1855 as a reading room and theatre for GWR workers.

Forward Swindon, the regeneration arm of Swindon Borough Council, had been working with the Mechanics Institution Trust on a plan to restore the Grade II* listed building into a community hub. A £25,000 grant was won from Historic England to pay for emergency works.

Speaking at a meeting of Swindon Borough Council’s scrutiny committee, Garry Perkins, cabinet member for the town centre, branded Singh’s return “very illogical from a business point of view”.

He said: “The gentleman who owned it closed the company down and disappeared. For some reason it’s been resurrected. We don’t understand it.

“The debts still sit with the company and our legal department is looking to see what’s there.

“Why he’s come back I just don’t know.”

In February 2012, Swindon Borough Council was awarded £300,000 from Forefront Estates for costs incurred after they stepped in to stop the Mechanics’ Institute roof from collapsing.

The High Court judge said at the time that Forefront faced an additional claim from the council for £450,000-worth of other emergency works that needed doing as contractors worked on the roof.

Forefront had argued the works was not necessary to keep the building safe, but the judge ruled that the costs were reasonably incurred under the 1984 Building Act.

Coun Perkins told councillors an estimated £1m had been spent by the council on the building.

In reports prepared for the scrutiny committee, he said: “The council will be seeking recompense for the expenditure that had to be undertaken to ensure the safety of the public and physical structure of the building during the time the company was not operating.

“Given the Institute’s historical significance to both the town and the country, the local authority is ready to play a leading role in working with partners from the private and not-for-profit sector to secure the building’s restoration and sustainable future.”

Following the meeting, council leader David Renard said: “We note the recent developments regarding the Mechanics’. The council is committed to working with partners from the private and not-for-profit sector to restore the building and ensure it has a sustainable future.”

Daniel Rose, director of the Mechanics Institution Trust, said: “The trust is deeply concerned by these developments and we are working with the council’s legal team, Forward Swindon and our own legal advisors to fully understand the situation.”