Portsmouth FC administrators axe 85 jobs to cut costs

The administrators of Portsmouth have started to make employees redundant, with 85 people losing their jobs.

Administrator Andrew Andronikou said no players were being made redundant as they were the "shop window" with regards to finding a potential buyer.  He also said he had held constructive talks with the tax authorities, and provided them with further details about club finances.  Portsmouth are the first Premier League club to enter administration.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been seeking a winding up order against the club, and Portsmouth is due in the High Court next Monday, as revenues and customs officials have challenged the terms of the club's administration.  He said that the authorities "should now be satisfied" that his appointment as administrator was valid.

The administrator was adamant that all prize money earned by Portsmouth from reaching the FA Cup semi-final would go to the club.

He added that Portsmouth would be taking its place in the semi-final and would "certainly fulfil its fixture list this season and begin the new season in August 2010".

Mr Andronikou also said chief executive Peter Storrie - who has been criticised over his handling of Portsmouth's troubles - had tendered his resignation. In the meantime, he has taken a 40% wage cut and currently remains in his post.

"Peter Storrie has tendered his resignation, he is working to a timetable. He is still chief exge," Mr Andronikou said.

He added that his hands were tied in relation to the playing wage bill as the players were "very much protected by [players' union] the PFA".

Before the job cuts the club had a staff of 166 full-time employees, and 154 part-time.

The club's administrator added that he had received substantial interest in buyers for the stricken club, but only two had been able to show proof of funds.

Posted at 07:42PM Mar 10, 2010 by Kelly Board in Insolvency  |  Comments[0]

Fraudsters Going 'Phishing'

More and more fraudsters are switching to raiding internet bank accounts over the more common card fraud, this comes as card fraud falls for the first time in three years according to the UK Cards Association.

Losses on UK credit and debit cards fell by 28% in 2009 compared with the 12 months previous, totalling £440m over the course of the year.  Meanwhile, in the same period ‘phishing,’ a term used to describe emails that get people to enter banking details by copying bank websites, rose by 16%.

The rise in popularity of this has seen criminals using more and more different methods in gaining the information they are after.  In order to avoid bank security, fraudsters are first gaining details from the individuals in order to log in as that person so the bank’s website wouldn’t recognise any wrong doing.

This is being done through the use of ‘malware,’ this is the use of new software that gets users to download fake goods that then begin to track their computer usage leading to the person inadvertently revealing all of their details.

The rise in the number of ‘phishing’ attacks meant, also led to a rise in the amount of money actually lost by people due to the new trend, this hit £59.7m in 2009.  Whilst at the moment this may not be anywhere near as severe as card fraud losses, as more and more people begin banking online, and software becomes even more technologically advanced, it may turn out to become a larger problem very quickly.

Card fraud is now at its lowest rate since the early ‘90s.  It is thought chip and pin is the reason behind the fall in fraud on lost and stolen cards as people can no longer use them without the pin code.

All forms of card fraud saw a fall last year, the largest of which was that of counterfeit cards being used, this halved compared to 2008.  Whereas mail-non-receipt and card not present fraud along with cheque fraud and cases of UK cards being used abroad all fell by considerable margins.

"We are committed to a wide range of measures to ensure customers feel confident, safe and secure when they use their credit and debit cards - whether in a shop, abroad, online, at a cash machine or anywhere else," said Melanie Johnson, who chairs the UK Cards Association.

"We recognise that cards will always be targeted by criminals, so we are determined not only to continue to prevent, detect and deter those who are behind this type of crime, but also to make sure that innocent victims do not lose out."

 All UK customers are entitled to a refund to from their card supplier if they to become victim to fraud, subject to the individual not being guilty of neglect themselves resulting in the fraud against them.

Stephen Ley, partner at accountancy firm Deloitte, said: "In the next year clear customer information from banks will remain key to reduce fraud further. A better educated consumer is less likely to fall foul of phishing attacks.

"Customers need to protect themselves on their computer, remaining vigilant and using good security software."

Posted at 10:36AM Mar 10, 2010 by Marc Stenton in UK Economy News  |  Comments[0]