‘Able Connections Ltd’ was set up as the medium with which to communicate with Hampshire Constituencies and wards. As individuals, Pro-Link is unable to communicate with a constituency or ward that is not in their own area, unless done through a third party Company. Without the Company to communicate through, no presentations to PUSH (Partnership for Urban South Hampshire would have been possible… nor the presentations to Portsmouth, Fareham, Winchester and Southampton Councils.
Able Connections Ltd Tim Cooper and Carl Feeney presenting at PUSH. This will not have been possible as individuals without the Company medium.
The Company will never make a profit or even trade. It is a communication vehicle and can become a client of Arup if necessary for the viability study.
ARUP requires a ‘client’ in order to carry out the Solent Freedom Tunnel Viability Study. So far, due to political pressure by the MP, the IOW Council are not prepared to become the client. Therefore At present (October 2019), Able Connections Ltd is set as ‘dormant’, but It shall become ‘active’ again to become the client once the funds are raised for the viability study.
Viability Study fund contributions are put into the Barclays ‘Pro-Link Community Account’ – sort code 20-60-55, account 73023761. Once the amount of £120,000 (£100,000 plus VAT) has been reached to pay ARUP for the study to be undertaken, the stage payments required, will be transferred into the Barclays ‘Able Connections Ltd’ account – sort code 20-45-45, account 83093468 so that ARUP can be paid from that company account.
However, should the IOW Council choose to have themselves as the client of ARUP while overseen by Pro-Link, only £100,000 will be required as the VAT element can be reclaimed. It is hoped that the IOW Council will represent the island’s residents responsibly by funding the study at least partially, but as at January 2020, that looks unlikely.
