Begbies Traynor Administrators of Torquay United.

[portugull]

Torquay United have announced today the names of the 3 employees of Begbies Traynor who have been appointed as Joint Administrators of Torquay United AFC Limited.

Begbies Traynor was formed in 1989 and is quoted on AIM on the London Stock Exchange. The Company has over 100 Offices in the UK and of the three men appointed 2 work out of the Bath Office Simon Haskew and Neil Vinnicombe and Scott Kippax out of the Exeter Office.

As you would expect they are all highly experienced with 75 years experience of Insolvency matters between them.

I none the less wonder if any of them have been Administrators of a Full Time Professional Football Club in the past?

I find it interesting but not too surprising that Begbies have asked George Edwards and Mel Hayman to continue working at the Club on a voluntary basis while the Administrators study the Offers made to take over the Club.

In a Financial sense no one knows better the inner workings of the Club as they have both known for years that Mr Osborne has been loosing money at an alarming rate. He may be a millionaire, who knows, but he has allowed a £20,000 a week loss to rumble on for over 5 years. It is commercial madness really because Mr Osborne must have known a long time ago that his plan for a New Stadium was a dead duck.

I notice on the Government Companies House Website that the Accounts of Gaming International are overdue which make me wonder if his other businesses are in trouble.

As Fans, many of us for most or nearly all of our time on the planet, we can only hope and pray that the eventual outcome will be that Torquay United finds new owners who only want one thing and we all know what that is!! Onwards and upwards.

[Southampton Gull]

It's not commercial madness at all. It was a punt by a very substantial corporation and he was just a figurehead as he has been for them previously.

We need to start seeing things for what they are, not what we're told.

[CornishGull]

I none the less wonder if any of them have been Administrators of a Full Time Professional Football Club in the past?

Begbies Traynor's previous projects include

Huddersfield Town FC
Scarborough FC
Wrexham FC
AFC Bournemouth
Southampton FC
Port Vale FC
Crawley Town FC
Wigan Athletic FC

[portugull]

Dave I bow to your superior knowledge of Mr. Osborne and his business activities.However I would be surprised if a very substantial Corporation would plough money into a Football Club like Torquay United for 7 /8 years before giving up the ghost. I guess though you know better.

Mr Osborne has currently some 20 active Directorships and has been a Director of 30 or 40 Companies now dissolved in the last 35 years.

In 2005 he was a Director of a Football Club in the Bristol area but only for 6 months. A very experienced man.

[portugull]

CornishGull yes Begbies Traynor as a Company do have experience of Pro Football Clubs going into Administration but my question was whether the 3 Gentlemen Appointed Joint Administrators of TUFC have any personal experience in the past involving being Administrators of a Professional Football Club.

[TerryTorq]

The following is part of the Gaming International accounts page 25 at Companies House which states:

"Property funding partners of the company withdrew financial support in March 2024 and the result of this was that TUAFC appointed an Administrator on 5 April 2024".

[TommyGunn]

Accidently came across this tweet regards creditors. Maybe of interest to some.

https://x.com/KieranMaguire/status/1793156786285171077

[Yellow6]

Accidently came across this tweet regards creditors. Maybe of interest to some.

https://x.com/KieranMaguire/status/1793156786285171077

Just read this on X. Is it saying the £286K is what the club has available to pay the creditors or is the total club value? Seems like the Bryn were saying they were confident on settling debts within six months not immediately. Can anyone clarify?

[TommyGunn]

Well I would say £285k what the club was worth if it were liquidated/sold off to pay creditors. Now it has new owners who are willing to settle those debts.

[AJW]

The full document can be down loaded from the link below,

https://find-and-update.company-informa ... ng-history

The Statement of the Administrator's proposals which has been filed but not yet accessible over the website will give greater information as to what the actual position is and the potential terms of any CVA that is being proposed. It should make interesting reading and enable everyone to know quite a lot more than is known at present.

[gullsgullsgulls]

Well I would say £285k what the club was worth if it were liquidated/sold off to pay creditors. Now it has new owners who are willing to settle those debts.

Exactly that. A few preferred creditors get paid but the lineup breaks pretty quickly and most creditors would have got nothing back.

I’m not sure how much of the £7m Bryn have agreed to settle but I presume it is the c£1.1m which excludes related party debts (mainly due to Riviera Stadium linked to Osborne and his “funding party”).

[exilegull]

Just read this on X. Is it saying the £286K is what the club has available to pay the creditors or is the total club value? Seems like the Bryn were saying they were confident on settling debts within six months not immediately. Can anyone clarify?

The 286k comes from the administrators assessment of how much they can raise if they sell all the assets.

[culmstockgull]

The list of outstanding creditors just shows how badly the club was being run and running costs were not only out of control but there was no control, £2900 to a bistro in paignton ( perhaps someone could explain that one), £990 pounds to an embroidery service ( perhaps as part of his ludicrous contract johnson had to have his initials embroidered on his pyjames), 7000 to a accountants company in newton abbot( I thought thats what we had mel Hayman for) over 140K to the inland revenue, water and electricity that havent been paid for goodness knows how long and certainly long before feburary when osborne pulled the plug. Many thousands owed to clubs we took loan players from like colchester and fleetwood, small outfits like ourselves that need every pound that is owed to them, I am surprised with our track record anyone will loan us a player. Torquay United wasnt being run on any business model that I understand but by people who realised these costs could never be paid but continued spending anyway.

[TommyGunn]

The list of outstanding creditors just shows how badly the club was being run and running costs were not only out of control but there was no control, £2900 to a bistro in paignton ( perhaps someone could explain that one), £990 pounds to an embroidery service ( perhaps as part of his ludicrous contract johnson had to have his initials embroidered on his pyjames), 7000 to a accountants company in newton abbot( I thought thats what we had mel Hayman for) over 140K to the inland revenue, water and electricity that havent been paid for goodness knows how long and certainly long before feburary when osborne pulled the plug. Many thousands owed to clubs we took loan players from like colchester and fleetwood, small outfits like ourselves that need every pound that is owed to them, I am surprised with our track record anyone will loan us a player. Torquay United wasnt being run on any business model that I understand but by people who realised these costs could never be paid but continued spending anyway.

So right.
Makes me boiling mad that these people were deemed fit and proper people.
After seeing the debts owed I'm even more grafeful for Bryn delivering us from these untrustworthy scum.
We must never again allow our club to get in such a mess.