Jameson Smith & Co Ltd

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Thursday 31 May 2012

Insolvency Expert to help Pompey fans Take over bid


Antony Fanshawe, insolvency expert at Begbies Traynor, is hoped to be able to seal the deal for fans of Pompey to take over the club. He will use his 30yrs of experience in the insolvency industry to pull together the strands to form a successful bid for the Pompey Supporters Trust, along with the administrator Trevor Birch.

According to the trust, talks are continuing with 5 ‘high net worth individuals’, all lifelong Pompey supporters. Mr Fanshawe has appealed to fans and businesses in Portsmouth to get behind the bid.

Mr Fanshawe is said to be delighted to be involved with the bid and is keen to help the trust see what they can do.

Antony Fanshawe qualified as a chartered accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 1980. He set up ‘Fanshawe Lofts’ in 1990 – a corporate finance and recovery business in the South of the country, which later merged with Begbies Traynor in 2008.

Meanwhile, Pomey’s former owner, Balram Chainrai, is looking to reveal CVA proposals in the next few days.

Pompey exiting administration through this method would mean avoiding points penalties next season.

Wednesday 30 May 2012

Head of Ex-DEFRA takes on CEO role within the Insolvency Service

The Insolvency Service has now recruited the former DEFRA divisional chief executive as its new their new CEO.

Richard Judge succeeds Stephen Speed who has been CEO of the Insolvency Service for more than four years. Mr Speed is now going to become the director of the Energy Development unit at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Richard Judge has been the CEO of an agency within the DEFRA (Department for Environmental Food and Rural Affairs) since 2007, prior to that he has worked in the nuclear, rail and environmental sectors in the UK, having no previous experience in the insolvency sector. Judge is set to start at the Insolvency Service around the end of July.

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Law Giant enters administration following demise in US


Law giant Dewey & LeBoeuf has put its UK operations into administration following their bankruptcy in the US.

Most of the UK branches staff have been left without jobs, save for a small team assisting with the administration. Shay Bannon and Mark Shaw of BDO have been appointed joint administrators.

The law firm operated its UK LLP from its offices in Paris and London, and is to closed down in a controlled way, safe guarding client interests and files, whilst maximising the return to creditors of both Dewey LeBoeuf’s UK LLP and sister company Dewey & LeBoeuf Services Ltd.

Troubles experienced in the US are blamed on the continued economic downturn leading to insufficient cash to cover expenses. Around 300 of the partners also left to pursue opportunities in rival firms, due to uncertainty surrounding compensation and substantial debts of between $100 million and $500 million.

Monday 28 May 2012

New loan scheme for young entrepreneurs


David Cameron has just launched a new loan scheme to help young entrepreneurs start in business.

The new 'StartUp Scheme' is targeted towards bringing much needed funds to your business people between the ages of 18 and 24 who can prove that they have a strong business plan. The average loan amount is based around £2,500. This comes as a welcome gesture, given the lack of support from banks in this department.

According to Cameron's enterprise advisor Lord Young the UK could have up to 900,000 more businesses within our economy if we took the a similar route as the USA.

On top of the loan which is at a rate of around 3% and can be over a period of up to 5 years, young business entrepreneurs will also receive advice, support and training to help their business plans have more chance of success.

Is this enough though? We are hoping that this will be enough to strike-up interest and enthusiasm in the young hopefuls, however, with banks being unwilling to extend or even provide overdrafts in some cases - it will be hard for come of these youngsters to stay in business. Hopefully, the banks will follow suit and start being more supportive across the UK to help business men and women that are in need of extra money to keep them in business and away from liquidation.



Tuesday 22 May 2012

Japan's credit rating drops over debt concerns



Japan's credit rating has now been downgraded by two levels by rating agency Fitch on concerns about the country's high levels of debt.
Fitch cut Japan's rating to A+ from AA and warned that further downgrades were possible.
Japan has by far the highest debt to GDP ratio of any major economy, although much of this debt is held by domestic investors.
The government has spent huge amounts of money on trying to stimulate growth not unlike our own economy here in the UK.
Part of the pressure within our own economy is at grass roots level. With the banks not lending, businesses are finding it more challenging to keep cash-flow at levels that can be managed easily. It as at this stage that companies often consider liquidation as they are unable to continue to trade. To find out more about liquidation or in this case more specifically, a creditors' voluntary liquidation visit www.companydebt.com or give us a call on 08000 746 757.


Tuesday 15 May 2012

North West Landbanking Companies Wound Up by Insolvency Service


Following an investigation by the company investigation department of the Insolvency Service, two landbanking companies based in the North West have been wound up.

Sterling Mortimar of Southport and CLS & Partners, based in Warrington, sold small plots of land in Wakefield to investors, on the premise that CLS & Partners would pursue planning permission for development of the land with a view to sell the site to a developer. Investors were assured that planning permission would result in a huge increase in the value of the plots.

The findings of the investigation by the Insolvency Service showed that neither company had made an application for planning permission to develop the site, and had they done so, it was highly unlikely that it would have been granted by the local authority. Agents selling on behalf of the companies, mislead investors that permission had already been taken care of.

Around 74 plots were sold to investors totalling the amount of £924,600, of which all of the funds were spent by CLS & Partners. It’s bank account was closed in November last year. Much of this expenditure is unexplained as adequate accounts had not been kept. £212,000 had been spent on the purchase of auctioned motor vehicles, and further £483,500 had been paid to associated company, Curved Ball, a company that had been dissolved in late 2011.

Monday 14 May 2012

Scots using too many pay day loans

The number of Scots turning to expensive payday loans in a desperate attempt to ease their cash-flow problems more than doubled last year, alarming new figures show.
Scots are also increasingly likely to take out more than two payday loans and are getting into deeper debts with the firms, according to research for The Scotsman by the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS).
Thousands of Scots have resorted to payday loans in recent years after being denied credit by mainstream lenders and demand continues to grow as unemployment creeps up and pressure intensifies on household incomes.
Payday loans are designed for short-term repayment, but those unable to clear their debt on time face annual interest charges of up to 3,600 per cent, sending them spiralling deeper into debt.
Almost 9 per cent of Scots going to the CCCS for help with their debts last year had a payday loan, up from just 3.6 per cent a year earlier, it reveals today.
The number of loans taken out by CCCS clients averages out at 2.37, while the typical amount owed has jumped from £919 two years ago to £1,199.
One in three Scots admits to anxiety over their debt levels, recent R3 research found, with twice as many people north of the border as elsewhere in the UK worried about their payday loans.
For free confidential company debt advice call us on 08000 746 757 or visit our site at www.companydebt.com

Thursday 10 May 2012

Blackburn Rovers cutback to avoid Administration


Blackburn owners ‘Venky’s’ are rumoured to be making cutbacks and redundancies in an attempt to avoid administration.

Reports suggest the club’s problems stretch beyond the club’s recent relegation to the Championship on Monday, with some sections of the media suggesting the club could be set in enter into administration. This would mean many of the Lancashire club’s employees would now face redundancy.
The club's owners are in talks whether to sell off their training facilities and pitches at Brockhall Village in order to free up cash and create development opportunities in the area.