File on 4 reported this week that 
Dering Employment Services ran out of money during the summer and is being liquidated. Steven Derring and Shaw Trust have had very harsh words about unpaid invoices and delays in processing claims.
Stephen Derring set up the organisation 5 years ago using his own savings with the aim of helping deaf people into work. During this time they have found jobs for over 500 people and grew to a Turnover of £1.3m.
According to Stephen Derring the organisation ran out of money chasing outstanding invoices to Shaw Trust and Stephen Derring claims that over the past 2 years he has had to chase up unpaid invoices personally. One invoice amounts to £45,000.
Shaw Trust says that there have been flaws in Derrings paperwork and they have been ‘slack’ in their invoicing. Shaw Trust refutes Derring case and Chief Executive Sally Burton explained that they have not consistently made late payments.
“We have no reason to avoid making payments for legitimate claims. We are careful not to disadvantage smaller organisations. The figure that may be outstanding is £15,000.
I’m very sad that Derring has gone under, and I’m not surprised about the allegations relating to Shaw Trust. They invited us to work with them last year in putting together a bid to run a specialist mental health programme in one of the London boroughs. We did all the research used for Shaw Trust’s bid, and had several meetings with one of their senior staff. They never told us whether the bid was successful or not, I can only assume that it wasn’t or that the project was pulled. Nevertheless, it was a disrespectful way to treat a potential partner.