Exclusive:Firm behind collapsed performing arts college was being shut down by Irish courts 3 months ago

The Irish company behind a Scottish theatre school that suddenly fell into liquidation, leaving students stranded, was being wound up by Dublin courts three months ago.

Official documents from the Irish companies register show Silver Rock Studios, which bought out the Scottish Institute of Theatre and Drama a year ago, received an "involuntary strike off order" in February.

The Scottish Institute moved to a new campus in Livingston last year. | Scotsman

The Irish firm, headed by Andrew Egan, the sole director of the Scottish Institute, has also made no progress on an ambitious plan to create a film studio in rural Ireland - billed as one of the biggest in Europe. Locals have claimed the site, in the town of Nenagh, County Tipperary, is dormant.

The Scottish Institute in Livingston closed its doors on Wednesday without any notice for staff or students.

READ MORE: Scottish theatre institute goes into liquidation, leaving students 'in the dark' over degree courses

Parents of students enrolled on degree courses warned they had been left in limbo, saying their children were “devastated”.

A document published on the site of the Companies Registration Office (CRO), the Irish equivalent of Companies House, listed Silver Rock Studios among firms that were to be struck off after failing to file an annual return. They were given 28 days to comply. However, no such document from Silver Rock has been filed on the CRO website.

Contemporary dancers at The Scottish Institute of Theatre, Dance, Film and Television

The site said: “The companies mentioned herein have failed to file an annual return as required by section 343 companies act 2014. Notice is hereby given pursuant to section 730(1) of the Companies Act 2014 that at the expiration of 28 days from the date of the notice specified in respect of each company, the name of the company mentioned herein will, unless all outstanding returns are delivered to the registrar, be struck off the register, and the company will be dissolved.”

The institute moved last year from Edinburgh to a new campus in Livingston in a renovated former building of a tax office after being taken over by Silver Rock.

At the launch of the new campus in April last year, Mr Egan said the institution would undergo a “pivotal expansion”.

He said: “We aspire to nurture a hub that champions creativity, entrepreneurship, and learning to inspire the next generation of talent.”

Despite receiving the go ahead from planners in 2021, it is understood that ground has not been broke on the site in Nenagh. Silver Rock's X profile still claims it is due to open this year.

The proposals claimed up to 2,000 people would be employed by the 190,000sqft film studios within two years of it opening.

Silver Rock’s website claims the Irish film studios would be “equipped with sound stages and the most advanced film and TV technology in existence globally”.

Formerly known as the MGA Academy of Performing Arts, the institute was Scotland’s only fully-accredited college with the UK’s Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre and offered degree level qualifications, some through its partner Bath Spa University in England.

As recently as January, it announced plans to invest in new student housing on the site.

Silver Rock has been contacted for comment.