Insolvency practitioner Deloitte, acting as administrator and latterly liquidator for failed mega-dealer George White Superbikes, has announced that unsecured creditors have received only £185,000 in total, equivalent to about 3.5 pence in the pound. An original estimated outcome during the administration was about seven pence in the pound.
Swindon-base George White, which went spectacularly bust in January 2012, owed £3.03m to its sole secured creditor HSBC Bank. Deloitte says HSBC has now been repaid just under £2.7m from the proceeds of administration and liquidation, leaving it £334,000 out of pocket.
Unsecured creditors — principally made up of trade suppliers, POS funding provider Close Motor Finance and Mike Grainger (who sold his GT Motorcycles concern to George White in 2010) — suffered a much larger deficit. Claims received from these unsecured creditors during the administration added up to a little under £2.54m. After the derisory “prescribed part” payment detailed above, they face a combined unrecoverable loss of £2.35m.
As part of Deloitte’s statutory duties during the winding-up procedure, an investigation into the conduct of George White directors Steve Gannicott and David Matton prior to the collapse of their business was completed and submitted to the UK Insolvency Service in February 2013.