News

Directorship bans for Phoenix Four

* Former MG Rover owners agree to directorship ban
* MG Rover went into administration in 2005 with huge debts
* Bans of between three and six years
Directorship bans for Phoenix Four

The four men in charge of MG Rover when the firm collapsed have been disqualified from being company directors.

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Peter Beale, John Edwards, Nick Stephenson and John Towers collectively known as the Phoenix Four have agreed to the bans of between three and six years, but do not admit to any wrongdoing over MG Rover's collapse.

Phoenix Ventures bought MG Rover from BMW in May 2000 for a nominal sum of 10. The manufacturer went bust five years later with debts of more than 1billion and the loss of more than 6000 jobs.

An independent report in 2009 concluded: 'members of the Phoenix consortium obtained large, and we say unreasonably large, financial rewards, totalling tens of millions of pounds.'

Members of the consortium received about 9 million each and the report went on to say that the men gave themselves 'rewards out of all proportion to the incomes that they had previously commanded, which were also large when compared with remuneration paid in other companies and that were not obviously demanded by their qualifications and experience'.

The men have never faced any criminal charges.

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