Former Rover workers get £3 redundancy payouts
After a seven year fight, former Rover workers are getting just £3 each following the collapse of the UK’s last major carmaker.
Workers have called on donations from the ‘Phoenix Four’ – John Towers, Nick Stephenson, John Edwards and Peter Beale – the businessmen who bought the company for £10 in 2000.
When the firm eventually collapsed in 2005 with the loss of 6,500 jobs, the Phoenix Four and former MG Rover chief executive Kevin Howe had already paid themselves a total of £42m.
Employees were hoping a trust fund established to pay redundancies would see around £20m in payments after the liquidation of assets.
However, the fund has assets of just £22,500 – leaving each former worker with a £3 payout.
Campaigners’ hopes to secure an additional £12.5m have recently been dashed in the High Court.
It ruled that Phoenix Venture Holdings – MG Rover’s former parent – was not allowed more information on money paid to creditor HBOS by administrators in 2005.
‘Search their conscience’
Lloyds Banking Group – the bank which now owns HBOS, said it made losses from the firm’s collapse and has a duty to its shareholders to try and minimise the losses.
Carl Chinn, a trustee of the former employees’ fund, said: “I hope they will search their conscience to see if they can find the goodwill to help those who have lost so much.”
Chinn said a request for contributions had been made to the Phoenix Four who last May were disqualified from working as company directors in Britain for a total of 19 years.
“We have therefore made one last call to the Phoenix Four and former chief executive Kevin Howe to make a significant donation to the Trust so that we can send out something larger than £3.
“We will then have a final meeting of the Trust Fund to decide what can be done. We are deeply upset and angry with the way that this long-running saga has caused so much distress to so many workers.”
A spokesman for the Phoenix Four said: “All we would want to say is that the request has been noted.”
