Rover investigation to begin

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Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 31 May 2005 13:35
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Inspectors have been called in to look into the affairs of collapsed carmaker MG Rover and its owners Phoenix Venture Holdings.

Trade and Industry secretary Alan Johnson has appointed a barrister and a senior accountant to examine issues raised by the Financial Reporting Council. The FRC last week said its own inquiry into the accounts of the Rover Group had raised a "number of questions".

The demise of the Birmingham-based plant had been a "huge blow" to workers and their families, and firms which used to supply the huge Longbridge factory, said Mr Johnson. "People want to know what happened," he added.

MG Rover will be left with just £80.5 million in assets once its secured loans to banks and its preferential creditors are paid off. Phoenix Venture and its subsidiaries is claiming £469 million while previous owner BMW is owed £8.1 million.

John Towers, one of the four Midlands businessmen who bought the company for a nominal £10 in 2000, has described the idea of accounting irregularities as "ridiculous".