Post by QPR Report on Nov 10, 2009 7:19:43 GMT
Guardian/Matt Scott
Notts County on brink of winding-up proceedings• Club's parent company owes six-figure tax debt• High court bankruptcy division to hear case next week
Notts County's parent company will be wound up next week unless a six-figure tax debt is paid. The League Two club are the subject of an order scheduled to be heard at the bankruptcy division of the high court on 18 November. Despite the notice being served on 25 September on the club's UK parent company, Blenheim 1862, the debt has still not been settled.
There remain four days in which to make a settlement to prevent the case going before the courts. Notts County yesterday refused to comment.
"A Petition to wind up the above-named Company of Meadow Lane Stadium, Meadow Lane, Nottingham NG2 3HJ, presented on 25 September 2009 by the Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs, claiming to be creditors of the Company, will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice, 18 November 2009," read a statement published on 5 November 2009 in the insolvency-notices journal of record, the London Gazette.
The development is said to have come as a shock to those involved in the transaction to hand over the club in June to Qadbak, the British Virgin Islands-registered company. As part of that deal the supporters' trust wrote off almost £400,000 in shares and loans it held in Blenheim 1862. Qadbak owns County via another BVI vehicle, Munto Finance, which in turn holds the shares in Blenheim 1862.
It is understood that at the time of the transaction there was an assurance that the tax debts, believed to be approaching £400,000 and which threatened the existence of the club, would be quickly paid. A source close to the club claims sufficient funds are being held in an escrow account ready for release to HM Revenue and Customs once the matter has been heard by the courts.
The source added that the debts relate to PAYE and VAT submissions dating back more than two years. But it was the assurance of swift payment, along with claims of vast funds available to the club under Qadbak, that led to the trust handing over the shares to the BVI companies for free.
This is not the first evidence of Notts County being unable to deliver on expectations since the takeover by Qadbak. Sol Campbell, whom the director of football, Sven-Goran Eriksson, persuaded to join the club, quit only five weeks into a five-year contract at Meadow Lane. "Perhaps things are not happening as quickly as he thought they might," said the club's executive chairman, Peter Trembling, on Campbell's departure in September.
Blenheim 1862's sole directors are Glenn Rolley, who still serves as the supporters' trust's chairman, and Trembling. If County fail to settle and HMRC succeeds in winding up Blenheim 1862, Rolley or Trembling will be ordered to hand over the company's books and to explain why the business failed.
That will lead to an investigation by HMRC and, if there is any evidence that tax payments were deliberately withheld, a further inquiry, led by Lord Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, might follow. Under HMRC's insolvency rules: "This could result in the directors being disqualified from running a company for a period of between two and 15 years."
Qadbak's quandary
As Qadbak warms up to become involved with Formula One through its planned control of the BMW-Sauber franchise, the team's most highly regarded board member is bowing out. After seven years as a director of BMW-Sauber, the UBS chief executive, Oswald Grübel, has chosen now to step down from the board. That seems a very strange thing to be doing just at a time when Qadbak is poised to confirm its takeover and supposedly secure the future of the Swiss team as a "serious investor". But Grübel would not explain his reasons for stepping down.
Davies' waiting list
Sports who fear a damaging report from the David Davies inquiry into listing their events for free-to-air broadcast – an increasingly likely outcome – will scrutinise carefully one element of the terms of reference. Davies is considering the principle of a list and its content but also the criteria by which events are to be listed. Criteria for the last such review, in 1998, included: "The impact of listing in reducing the income or potential income of the sport, and the consequences of that reduction for its investment in increasing participation and/or improving levels of performance and/or in creating safe facilities." But Davies' panel contained no sports-rights expert and is not believed to have commissioned any economic-impact study. If Ben Bradshaw, the culture secretary, accepts Davies' expected recommendations for an extended list, a drawn-out and costly round of consultation looks set to be required, leading to a long wait for any new legislation.
Sweet science, sweet talk
David Haye is not the only one in his corner Sky is looking forward to having back on air now that he is a heavyweight champion of the world. On Saturday night Haye's uncharacteristically measured points win over Nikolai Valuev meant 11 between-round breaks, for many of which Sky broadcasted the counsel of his cornerman, Adam Booth. And in contrast to the usual colourful language of the trainers that requires Sky to apply the mute button on corners, Booth's calm delivery – which required only a single apology from the fight commentator, Ian Darke, for bad language – has delighted the broadcaster.
Kenyon changes tack
So, Peter Kenyon, left, has been appointed to the "leadership team" of the US-based Creative Artists Agency, in charge of its international operations – his first job since quitting as Chelsea's chief executive. But perish the thought that Kenyon had sights on this move six months ago. Yes, eyebrows were raised when Kenyon signed a deal for Chelsea with CAA in June to help with "athlete marketing" when, despite claiming to represent David Beckham, CAA's links with the former England captain were proved here to be limited at best. But Kenyon would point to the success of a US tour CAA arranged for Chelsea as proof the deal he announced in June was a good thing for the club.
www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/nov/10/notts-county-parent-company-tax-debt
Notts County on brink of winding-up proceedings• Club's parent company owes six-figure tax debt• High court bankruptcy division to hear case next week
Notts County's parent company will be wound up next week unless a six-figure tax debt is paid. The League Two club are the subject of an order scheduled to be heard at the bankruptcy division of the high court on 18 November. Despite the notice being served on 25 September on the club's UK parent company, Blenheim 1862, the debt has still not been settled.
There remain four days in which to make a settlement to prevent the case going before the courts. Notts County yesterday refused to comment.
"A Petition to wind up the above-named Company of Meadow Lane Stadium, Meadow Lane, Nottingham NG2 3HJ, presented on 25 September 2009 by the Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs, claiming to be creditors of the Company, will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice, 18 November 2009," read a statement published on 5 November 2009 in the insolvency-notices journal of record, the London Gazette.
The development is said to have come as a shock to those involved in the transaction to hand over the club in June to Qadbak, the British Virgin Islands-registered company. As part of that deal the supporters' trust wrote off almost £400,000 in shares and loans it held in Blenheim 1862. Qadbak owns County via another BVI vehicle, Munto Finance, which in turn holds the shares in Blenheim 1862.
It is understood that at the time of the transaction there was an assurance that the tax debts, believed to be approaching £400,000 and which threatened the existence of the club, would be quickly paid. A source close to the club claims sufficient funds are being held in an escrow account ready for release to HM Revenue and Customs once the matter has been heard by the courts.
The source added that the debts relate to PAYE and VAT submissions dating back more than two years. But it was the assurance of swift payment, along with claims of vast funds available to the club under Qadbak, that led to the trust handing over the shares to the BVI companies for free.
This is not the first evidence of Notts County being unable to deliver on expectations since the takeover by Qadbak. Sol Campbell, whom the director of football, Sven-Goran Eriksson, persuaded to join the club, quit only five weeks into a five-year contract at Meadow Lane. "Perhaps things are not happening as quickly as he thought they might," said the club's executive chairman, Peter Trembling, on Campbell's departure in September.
Blenheim 1862's sole directors are Glenn Rolley, who still serves as the supporters' trust's chairman, and Trembling. If County fail to settle and HMRC succeeds in winding up Blenheim 1862, Rolley or Trembling will be ordered to hand over the company's books and to explain why the business failed.
That will lead to an investigation by HMRC and, if there is any evidence that tax payments were deliberately withheld, a further inquiry, led by Lord Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, might follow. Under HMRC's insolvency rules: "This could result in the directors being disqualified from running a company for a period of between two and 15 years."
Qadbak's quandary
As Qadbak warms up to become involved with Formula One through its planned control of the BMW-Sauber franchise, the team's most highly regarded board member is bowing out. After seven years as a director of BMW-Sauber, the UBS chief executive, Oswald Grübel, has chosen now to step down from the board. That seems a very strange thing to be doing just at a time when Qadbak is poised to confirm its takeover and supposedly secure the future of the Swiss team as a "serious investor". But Grübel would not explain his reasons for stepping down.
Davies' waiting list
Sports who fear a damaging report from the David Davies inquiry into listing their events for free-to-air broadcast – an increasingly likely outcome – will scrutinise carefully one element of the terms of reference. Davies is considering the principle of a list and its content but also the criteria by which events are to be listed. Criteria for the last such review, in 1998, included: "The impact of listing in reducing the income or potential income of the sport, and the consequences of that reduction for its investment in increasing participation and/or improving levels of performance and/or in creating safe facilities." But Davies' panel contained no sports-rights expert and is not believed to have commissioned any economic-impact study. If Ben Bradshaw, the culture secretary, accepts Davies' expected recommendations for an extended list, a drawn-out and costly round of consultation looks set to be required, leading to a long wait for any new legislation.
Sweet science, sweet talk
David Haye is not the only one in his corner Sky is looking forward to having back on air now that he is a heavyweight champion of the world. On Saturday night Haye's uncharacteristically measured points win over Nikolai Valuev meant 11 between-round breaks, for many of which Sky broadcasted the counsel of his cornerman, Adam Booth. And in contrast to the usual colourful language of the trainers that requires Sky to apply the mute button on corners, Booth's calm delivery – which required only a single apology from the fight commentator, Ian Darke, for bad language – has delighted the broadcaster.
Kenyon changes tack
So, Peter Kenyon, left, has been appointed to the "leadership team" of the US-based Creative Artists Agency, in charge of its international operations – his first job since quitting as Chelsea's chief executive. But perish the thought that Kenyon had sights on this move six months ago. Yes, eyebrows were raised when Kenyon signed a deal for Chelsea with CAA in June to help with "athlete marketing" when, despite claiming to represent David Beckham, CAA's links with the former England captain were proved here to be limited at best. But Kenyon would point to the success of a US tour CAA arranged for Chelsea as proof the deal he announced in June was a good thing for the club.
www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/nov/10/notts-county-parent-company-tax-debt
