Ex-Pompey Bosses Dodge Dealings
The previous dealings at Portsmouth FC leading to the their current position were again brought to light yesterday as Harry Redknapp, Peter Storrie and Milan Mandaric, former manager, chief executive and owner of the club were charged wth alleged tax evasion activities during their time at the club.
All of the allegations have been made by HMRC, and the charges were officially heard yesterday morning at Southwark Crown Court.
Mandaric and Redknapp have been charged with cheating the public revenue regarding to two payments made into a Monaco bank account that was opened by Redknapp. Storrie was also charged with cheating the public revenue in relation to offshore payments he made whilst in charge of the club.
Meanwhile, both Mandaric and Storrie have also had a separate charge against them in relation to another offshore payment made to Eyal Berkovic, a former pompey player. Storrie, Redknapp and Mandaric have all denied any wrong doing.
The Crown Prosecution Service is going to apply for a joinder, meaning all three defendants will hear their cases together. All evidence regarding the cases will be submitted to court over the next three weeks.
All three defendants will appear at Southwark Crown Court on 14 September. It was not possible before today to have charges let before Storrie and Mandaric. Storrie is due to appear at City of Westminster Magistrate’s Court on 9 June.
Posted at 10:00AM May 29, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency | Comments[0]
Retail Sales Drop This Month
A new survey by the CBI business group has shown that retail sales have fallen again this month, hitting a 14 month low.
The group conducts a monthly distributive trade survey, which did show a sales balance of +13 in April, has now fallen to show -18 in May.
The survey is blaming the lull on a slowdown in the housing market reducing consumer demand along with the bad weather seen in the earlier parts of the month.
These retail sales figures for the early part of May are clearly disappointing," said Ian McCafferty, the CBI's chief economic adviser.
It is though that the poor weather is likely to have had a large impact on clothing sales as people begin to buy warm weather clothing ready for the summer.
In addition, Mr McCafferty said signs of "slowing momentum" in the housing market was likely to have been behind "renewed weakness in sales of big-ticket items and other household goods".
The CBI's reading was below what analysts had previously expected.
"The CBI survey reinforces our long-held concern that the upside for consumer spending, and hence growth, will be limited for some time to come as households still face very challenging conditions," said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight.
Posted at 03:21PM May 28, 2010 by Marc Stenton in The Economy | Comments[0]
Pompey To Submit CVA Proposal
Andrew Andronikou, Administrator of Portsmouth FC will this week send out a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) proposal to creditors of the club offering 20p in the pound of their debts to be paid off.
It is thought that the proposal will be sent out tomorrow, in terms of a football club, a CVA is the best way to leave administration, as any other way would incur further points penalties in the football league. If 75% of creditors agree to the terms, then they become legally binding and creditors will be due to receive 20% of what they are owed over a maximum 5 year period.
Andronikou’s target when he was appointed was to help the club out of administration by the first week of June, a target that will be achieved if the CVA goes through.
It is thought that the first year payments of the CVA are going to be funded via reduced player wages and releasing players in order to slash the wage bill, the main cause of their current problems. After that, the remainder of the CVA payments will be funded via the clubs parachute payments from the Premier League, whereby relegated teams will now be paid £48m over a 4 year period.
Under FA rules, all football creditors are to be paid in full as they have ‘super-preferential’ status, a rule heavily frowned upon by other parties, HMRC in particular. HMRC have previously said they will reject all CVA proposals from football clubs until the remove the football creditors rule.
However, it is thought that HMRC are likely to back the CVA on the grounds that it will last just six months with the supervisors working on a sale of the club in this time.
A sale of the club would allow its football activities to continue under new ownership, while liquidators could investigate the goings on under the former management.
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Posted at 04:38PM May 27, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency | Comments[0]
Loan Sharks Coming Under Attack
The Office of Fair Trading and trading standards officers are stepping up their campaign against loan sharks. As personal insolvency continues to rise in the UK, people will do anything to clear that debt, and there are hundreds of loan sharks waiting for the opportunity to worsen their position.
200,000 leaflets are being sent out to people to warn of the dangers of loan sharks, firstly because of the illegality of loan sharking and secondly warning of the violent nature of many of these lenders.
Households in Scotland, the North of England and the West Midlands are the main areas being targeted by the campaign.
It is thought these areas contain about half the 165,000 homes in Britain who borrow cash from loan sharks.
"Unlicensed loan sharks will often offer cash loans without paperwork, they may take benefit or bank cards as security, and threaten or use violence to get money," said the OFT.
The regulator have said they have already had a helping hand in writing off around £31 million pounds in illegal loans, helping out nearly 12,000 people and resulting in prison sentences for some lenders.
The campaign will highlight the dangers of being charged exorbitant interest rates as well as the possibility of suffering threats and violence.
Posted at 04:32PM May 26, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency | Comments[0]
UK economic growth revised up to 0.3%
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has shown that the UK economy has grown slightly quicker than expected over the opening three months of the year.
It was initially believed that the economy would by around 0.2%, however it has actually seen a rise of 0.3%. A strong rebound in business services and industrial production helped output in be boosted, however year on year, output fell by 0.2%. This was also a slight improvement on previous estimates that predicted a 0.3% decrease.
Despite the quarterly figure going in the right direction, the growth was still smaller than that of the last quarter of 2009, when the economy saw a 0.4% growth.
The revisions were in line with analysts' expectations following the release of strong industrial output data for March. Industrial output was expecting to see around a 0.7% rise, where in actual fact it saw a 1.2% rise.
The same figures were also shown for manufacturing output.
However, despite these rises household spending did not show any growth in the quarter.
"The key underlying message here is that we are seemingly seeing some rebalancing away from consumer spending towards industrial production," said Adam Chester from Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets.
"A welcome sign of rebalancing, but as yet it's early days. Of course what this number doesn't take into account is the fallout from the events we have seen in Europe over the last few weeks."
Posted at 04:21PM May 25, 2010 by Marc Stenton in The Economy | Comments[0]
Car Industry Insolvencies Decrease
New reports from Experian have shown that corporate insolvencies in the car industry have fallen significantly with a year on year drop adding to a remarkable 50% fall from March to April this year.
It is thought that an improvement in late payments is the main reasoning behind the fall with car dealers paying bills far quicker than they had done previously. This is also helping the financial strength of the car industry as a whole.
However, despite yet another improvement in late payments for April, the car industry actually fell in the ranking from 3rd down to 10th, this was because they have seen a significant improvement to achieve that status.
Mark Nuttall, general manager of Experian’s Automotive business, said, ‘The decline in insolvencies and improvement in payment performance in April has meant that the financial strength score of the industry has remained buoyant this month.
‘It seems the other sectors are catching up with automotive dealers in understanding that paying bills late can be detrimental to their business credit scores, business relationships, lines of credit and subsequently the business as a whole.’
It is now widely thought that the car market is seeing a turn for the better after suffering very badly as a result of the recession.
Posted at 04:04PM May 24, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency | Comments[0]
Luxury Restaurant Goes into Administration
The luxury London restaurant ‘Buddha Bar,’ a regular hang out for footballers and WAGs has gone into Administration. Baker Tilly has been appointed to handle the closure of the company, the restaurant has been host to tonnes of Celebrities including Lionel Richie.
The restaurant ceased trading immediately on the appointment of the Administrators. Buddha Bar opened in August 2008.
David Hudson, head of the London team of administrators at Baker Tilly, has been forced to make 80 redundancies since his appointment, however he remains confident that a buyer for the assets of the company can be found.
Hudson said: "Naturally, high-quality entertainment venues have a high start-up cost and, with Buddha Bar opening just before the beginning of the recession in 2008, it compounded what was a difficult market for the business."
The London restaurant is part of a franchise that has restaurants all over the world, namely glamorous locations such as Dubai, Paris and New York.
Simon Halabi is one of the backers for the company. Halabi filed for bankruptcy earlier this year with Baker Tilly partner, Geoff Carton-Kelly appointed the trustee in bankruptcy on his case.
Posted at 03:44PM May 21, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency | Comments[0]
Recession Lowered Pension Payments
New figures from HMRC have shown that the amount of money that was paid in to personal and stakeholder pension plans fell by around 5% during the recession. This meant that £1.1bn less was paid in during the recession as opposed to the previous period.
£19.7bn was paid into such schemes during 2008-2009, making it the first drop since the mid 90s with lower employee contributions being the main cause, accounting for £1bn worth of the fall.
Self-employed people also paid in less than the previous period, whereas the amounts paid in by employers actually rose slightly.
"A collapse in pension saving of this magnitude will inevitably have repercussions further down the line unless savers make good their missed contributions," said Laith Khalaf of financial advisers Hargreaves Lansdown.
"As things stand individuals are understandably reluctant to put money away for their retirement when their immediate future looks uncertain."
Since 2006, when HMRC limits were relaxed on payments into pension schemes, the amounts being paid in have steadily risen. However, with unemployment quickly increasing adding to the struggle of the recession, the upward trend in these figures was quickly curbed.
Mr Khalaf added, "Faced with uncertainty over future earnings it is understandable that some chose not to save into a pension in case they needed money in a hurry."
Posted at 04:36PM May 19, 2010 by Marc Stenton in The Economy | Comments[0]
Corporate Insolvencies Up in Scotland
Contrary to reports about England and Wales, corporate insolvencies in Scotland has actually risen over the first quarter of 2010.
Reports last week confirmed that business insolvencies in the UK fell by around 15% of the first three months of the year, meanwhile companies North of the border have seen a massive 32% increase. This comes according to new figures by Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB).
The figures show that a total of 282 notices of insolvency were submitted by Scottish companies from January through to March.
Rosemary Winter-Scott, spokesperson for AiB, said: "The increased number of company insolvencies reported in the last quarter may be an indication that Scottish businesses are experiencing difficulties but it is too soon to assume a trend. AiB will continue to report on developments."
Meanwhile, Scottish figures further contradicted the rest of the UK with personal insolvency. Whilst England and Wales are seeing some of their highest figures ever and saw a huge rise last quarter, Scotland’s personal insolvencies fell by 9%.
Winter-Scott added: “We are very pleased to report a continued drop in the number of personal insolvencies for the third quarter in a row. This reflects the commitment by the Scottish Government and debt and insolvency service partners to make sure that those who need help can access it at the right time and at the right level for their circumstances.”
Posted at 03:22PM May 17, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency | Comments[0]
Distressed Business Sales Up in North East
The number of firms being bought out of insolvency proceedings rose in the North East last year. New figures from Experian Corpfin have shown that 1 in 6 takeover deals completed in the North East in 2009 involved a business that had been in financial difficulty.
The figures show that out of 116 deals done, 20 of them involved a distressed company compared with only 16 out of 200 similar deals in 2008.
Over the final quarter of the year, the rate rose to 1 in 5. A trend that has been shown to be quite a way in front of the rest of the country with the UK as a whole seeing a rate of around 1 in 9.
The research was conducted on behalf of R3, who have said that the level of distressed companies being bought has remained high.
R3 North East chairman Linda Farish, a director of recovery and insolvency at Newcastle-based accountants RMT, said, “The increase in the North East percentage of insolvency sales may be accounted for by the way deals are reported to Experian Corpfin.
“While pre-pack administrations may account for some of these deals, others will be acquisitions by astute buyers taking the opportunity to pick up bargains while values are low. These statistics represent businesses being given a second chance of survival, and help to sustain employment opportunities which would simply disappear.”
R3 said there were 345 acquisitions of distressed business in the UK during the year, which made up an eighth of all mergers and acquisitions.
Back in 2008, the number of distressed acquisitions made up one in 27 of all mergers and acquisitions, with a total of 159 for the year.
Posted at 09:00AM May 15, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency | Comments[0]
Corporate Insolvencies Down In April
New figures published by Experian have shown that despite personal insolvency currently booming, corporate insolvencies have fallen considerably, seeing a 15% drop in April this year compared with the same period last year.
The fall meant that 1818 businesses fell victim to insolvency proceedings in April compared with 2274 in the same month in 2009. This also meant that the insolvency rate for business fell for the month by 0.01%, the insolvency rate is a measured as a percentage of the entire UK business population entering some form of insolvency.
Greater London was the area that saw the highest number of business insolvencies, however even here saw a fairly substantial fall on the previous year. The highest insolvency rate was seen in the North East at 0.13% compared with the national rate of 0.10%. This is the third consecutive month in which the North East has had the worst rate.
Rolf Hickmann, managing director of pH, an Experian company, said,a “It continues to be vital for businesses to understand the circumstances of those they are doing business with and the risks they could expose their company to.
“It is easier for the smallest businesses to make adjustments to their operations and pull in the reins when times are challenging.”
The figures have also shown that the worst affected businesses in terms of size were the midsized ones. Companies with 26-50, 51-100 and 101-500 employees all saw rates well above 0.20% at 0.22%, 0.26% and 0.24% respectively.
Hickmann also added, “For the largest business, there is the flexibility that comes with economies of scale, so insolvency rates among these extremes of business type are also low. Mid-sized businesses do not typically have the luxury of either of these benefits and can face the most pressure.”
Meanwhile, Mike Jervis, business recovery services partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, has said, “If there is uncertainty and the possibility of some return to confidence to business then companies are able to hold on a bit longer.
“Hopefully we are now in an environment where some confidence can be restored.”
Posted at 02:52PM May 14, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency | Comments[0]
CVAs See Growth In Polularity
A new poll by restructuring lawyers has revealed that Company Voluntary Arrangements or CVAS are becoming more and more popular and should also be more widely used.
The study, carried out by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed that 85% of the restructuring lawyers polled believe that CVAs along with the similar scheme of arrangements, have increased in popularity recently.
Meanwhile, over half of people polled believed that the arrangements should be more widely used as an alternative to formal insolvency proceedings.
The responses have shown that the apparent unpopularity of CVAs, was due to a common belief that they are expensive and take too long to implement. There has also been a belief that they can only be used by larger corporations, due to the cost and complexities in place for smaller businesses.
Mike Jervis, business recovery services partner at PwC, said: “Both schemes and CVAs have an important place in restructurings with CVAs particularly becoming increasingly popular in recent years.
“These alternative restructuring processes have become more widely accepted by a more pragmatic creditor base given the increased financial pressure on companies and the desire to avoid using administration.”
Whilst agreeing that both CVAs and scheme of arrangements should be more widely used, it was also agreed by the poll that CVAs were more suited to sectors such a retail or real estate, whilst schemes of arrangements are more applicable to cases such as financial service businesses and leverage finance companies.
Jervis also added, “CVAs are considered a simpler process than schemes in that they can be quicker to implement in a rescue scenario.
“However, those who have been involved in schemes more readily see them as an appropriate way forward given their inherent flexibility and more consensual process. There is no right answer on whether a scheme or CVA should be pursued and the solution should be determined by the merits of each against the interests of stakeholders.”
Posted at 01:38PM May 13, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency | Comments[0]
Derry's department store in Plymouth facing closure
Derry's department store in Plymouth went into administration earlier this month. Consultants MCR have now said that Derry's, and another 8 stores across England will close within 4 weeks if another buyer cannot be found.
Sarah Bell, partner at MCR, said it was deemed that the nine stores - including shops in Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester, Dovercourt and Witham in Essex, Stowmarket in Suffolk, Norwich and Sunderland - should close following a financial review. A total of 335 jobs would be affected, including 80 at Derry's alone.
She said the stores "were loss-making and could not continue to trade in the short-term without implementing immediate cost saving measures".
Ms Bell added: "There is an opportunity for interested parties to come forward and rescue the remaining business as a going concern."
Vergo Retail Ltd, who took over the Derry's store in February 2009, blamed a "difficult trading environment during the economic downturn".
Vergo also owns Homemaker stores in Devon - including Exmouth, Kingsteignton and Cothill on the outskirts of Plymouth - as well as one in Launceston, Cornwall.
No announcement has been made about their future.
Posted at 08:10PM May 12, 2010 by Kelly Board in Insolvency | Comments[0]
Unemployment Rises Yet Again
UK Unemployment has risen yet again and now stands at a staggering 2.51 million after a further 53,000 people were added to the total over the first quarter of this year, according to official figures.
The increase now means that unemployment in this country stands at its highest level in almost 16 years, December 1994 was the last time the figures achieved this amount.
Despite the increase, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit has actually fallen in April. A fall had been expected, however not on the same scale as the 27,100 drop that has occurred. The number of people now claiming unemployment benefit stands at 1.52 million.
The rate of unemployment remained at 8%, the Office for National Statistics said.
A further rise has been seen in the number of people who are classed ‘economically inactive,’ a term used for people who are out of work and no longer actively seeking work. Nearly 100,000 people have been added to the total over the first quarter of the year, meaning the total now stands at a record 8.2 million.
The ONS figures also showed a fairly substantial rise in youth unemployment, with the number of 16 – 24 years olds out of work rising by nearly 20,000 up to 941,000. Meanwhile, the number of over 50s out of work for more than a year has also increased to 146,000, up 12,000 on previous figures.
Furthermore, over a million people have said that they are only in part time employment because they cannot find full time employment.
On a regional scale, Yorkshire/Humberside has seen the worst rise in unemployment, increasing by 18,000. In contrast, the region with the best figures is the South West, seeing a decrease of 6,000.
John Philpott of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said the latest data underlined how tough a challenge the new coalition government faced.
He has said, "The big task for the government is trying to stimulate growth while also cutting the deficit.
"There's nothing to suggest we're going to get a return to anything approaching full employment anytime soon."
And Brian Johnson, an insolvency practitioner at HW Fisher chartered accountants, said that those who had predicted that the worst of unemployment was over were wrong.
"If it were not bad enough already, we can expect significant public sector job losses, as the new government sets about cutting spending immediately in order to reduce the deficit.
"With private sector collapses and public sector cuts, we expect unemployment to continue to rise during the remainder of 2010 and on into 2011."
Posted at 12:38PM May 12, 2010 by Marc Stenton in The Economy | Comments[0]
House prices are still rising
The UK's property market is benefiting from its normal spring pick up, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said.
In April, 17% more surveyors said prices were rising rather than falling, up from 9% in March.
Sales have picked up very slightly as well, Rics reported, with the average number of homes sold per surveyor rising to 17.4 over the three months to the end of April.
A rise in the number of homes being put up for sale again outstripped the increase in enquiries from potential new buyers, which might suggest downward pressure on prices in the coming months.
But overall, Rics said its members had become much more optimistic about both sales and prices.
"The start of spring has seen renewed optimism with the good weather improving sentiment and surveyors expecting an increase in both sales and house prices," said Rics spokesman Jeremy Leaf.
"The housing market often sees an increase in new instructions in the early part of the year with sales boosted in the spring and this year has been no exception," he added.
Posted at 09:00PM May 11, 2010 by Kelly Board in Mortgages & Housing Market | Comments[0]
