Finbow Wines Limited/Nouveau World Wines Limited: administrators appointed

Trevor Binyon of R S Tenon has been appointed as liquidator to Nouveau World Wines and Nick Wood of Grant Thornton as liquidator to Finbow Wines Limited.
 

Due to the link between the two companies, Grant Thornton was given the opportunity of acting jointly with R S Tenon, but refused. 

Finbow Wines Limited/Nouveau World Wines Limited: URGENT ACTION REQUIRED: Grant Thornton a candidate to be appointed liquidator

I'm happy to post this notice at the request of Grant Thornton. See also here. 

"Finbow Wines Limited - In Liquidation & Nouveau World Wines Limited - In Liquidation


URGENT ACTION REQUIRED


30 March 2011 - Meeting of creditors to appoint an insolvency practitioner to act as liquidator


The Fraud Insolvency Division (FInD) at Grant Thornton UK LLP have been approached by in excess of £1m in value of investors to act as joint liquidators in the matter of Finbow Wines Limited at a meeting of creditors to be held at The Official Receiver's offices in London at 10.30am on 30 March 2011.  

Nick Wood and David Ingram are also happy to accept nominations to be appointed as joint liquidators of Nouveau World Wines Limited, a company connected to Finbow Wines Limited in order, at the Official Receiver's request, to allow the two liquidations to be dealt with by the same firm. We have successfully dealt with a number of wine investment companies making good recoveries for investors. There is likely to have been movement of monies and stock between the 2 companies and it would be more cost efficient for creditors to have both companies dealt with by the same liquidator.

Nominations must be lodged with the Official Receiver by noon today, however late nominations will still be lodged with the Official Receiver and may still be accepted.

Should you be an investor in Nouveau World Wines Limited and wish to discuss this process and the forms required or wish to nominate Nick Wood and David Ingram of Grant Thornton UK LLP please contact Samantha Locke at Grant Thornton UK LLP as a matter of urgency on 0207 728 2651 or alternatively email her at samantha.j.locke@uk.gt.com.

There will be no charge to investors in making this nomination and a report of the outcome of the meeting will be provided at no cost.

For further information regarding Grant Thornton's insolvency investigation services please visit http://www.grant-thornton.co.uk/intermediaries/fraud_insolvency_division.aspx FInD's fees can be conditional upon recoveries made and therefore creditors may not need to fund recoveries and spend further money thereby throwing 'good' money after 'bad'.

FInD specialise in tracing and recovering assets and are a national team together with an international reach with a presence in all offshore financial centres. They have recovered assets from many jurisdictions and are currently successfully recovering monies for victims of various investment scams, including off plan property developments, mortgage fraud and boiler room fraud, in the UK, Spain, Caribbean, USA, the Middle East and other overseas jurisdictions.

They have a proven track record and sector expertise and are currently running over 600 asset recovery cases. They regularly work with various police fraud squads, the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service."

Primeurs 2010 - when to publish? asks Jancis Robinson MW

Jancis Robinson MW@a conference in Porto December 2010

Good and thought-provoking article by Jancis Robinson MW asking how journalists covering the 2010 Bordeaux en primeur tastings can avoid becoming part of Bordeaux's sales machine:

23 Mar 2011 by Jancis Robinson

'It looks, against all odds, as though Bordeaux may just have another sought-after vintage on its hands with the 2010s (see Vintage reputations - the struggle for truth). Asian markets, with the tragic exception of Japan, seem to be on fire for classic, investment-grade wines. The Americans look ready to come back into the picture for Bordeaux primeurs, having sat out 2009s to a great extent. Many economies are in a much healthier state than the British one, and even in the UK there is no shortage of potential investors with, for example, bonuses burning to find an amusing home. No wonder the UK's fine-wine traders are in such fine fettle. This year they don't even seem to be bothering to demand reasonable pricing from the top Bordeaux proprietors - who are currently rolling in cash, as any visitor to the Médoc and its myriad building projects can attest.

I have already tasted some 2010s and can see that there will be considerable interest in them. I am going back to Bordeaux twice, once at the end of this month and once at the beginning of next, to taste this embryonic vintage as thoroughly as is possible as usual, but I really do wonder what to do with my tasting notes.'

Read the rest here: http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201103204.html

**

Probably the only way for journalists to escape Bordeaux sales machine is not to go until the wines are closer to being ready and after the prices have been released. By which time, of course, most of the wines will have been sold and a critics comments may not be very relevant.

See also the open letter from Michel Bettane, the prominent French wine critic, to Sylvie Cazes of the UGCB. 

Nouveau World Wines Ltd and Finbow Wines Ltd: creditors meeting 30th March 2011

I'm posting a letter from Mark Hendrick of RSM Tenon, a corporate recovery firm, to one of the creditors. Tenon is one of the companies in the running to be appointed liquidator of Nouveau World Wines Ltd and Finbow Wines Ltd. This will be decided at a creditors meeting  starting at 11.00am on 30th March 2011 at the offices of the Insolvency Service, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3SS (near Bedford Square).

A proxy forms have to be lodged with the Official Receiver not later than 12 noon on Tuesday 29th March 2011 to entitle creditors to vote by proxy at the meeting (together with a completed proof of debt form if they have not already lodged one).  
 

Please note that I will happily post similar letters/notices from other companies looking to be appointed as liquidator for Nouveau World Wines Ltd and Finbow Wines Ltd.  

••

Mark Hendrick:  

I write further to our telephone conversation of today concerning the above and can confirm that Mr Trevor Binyon of this firm has been asked to accept an appointment in acting as Liquidator in both of these matters further to the winding up orders obtained against them on 20 October 2010 further to a petition presented by the Secretary of State for Business Innovation & Skills on the basis it was in the public interest to do so.

For your information, I attach further copies of the Official Receiver’s report to creditors in both cases. (Not included in this post - Jim)

Suffice to say, the reports themselves do not make for very good reading.  Clearly, it will be for any appointed Liquidator to undertake a detailed investigation into the demise of the businesses in order to ascertain the quantum of any recoveries to be made from third parties associated to both businesses.

It should be noted that in the Official Receiver’s report, reference is given to recoveries for a Liquidator to consider given the quantum of money received by the companies and the fact that very little was spent on wine.

It is in this regard that Mr Binyon has confirmed his willingness to act.

You may not be aware that it is the intention of the Official Receiver to convene a meeting of the company’s creditors which is due to take place at their offices at 21 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3SS on 30 March 2011.

I will be in attendance at this meeting representing various clients/investors who will be nominating Mr Binyon to act as Liquidator as mentioned above.

For your information, the purpose of the meeting is purely to allow creditors to nominate an Insolvency Practitioner of their choosing in dealing with the winding up of the company. It may also be possible to form what is known as a Creditors’ Committee to assist the Liquidator in his dealings.

We discussed how a firm such as my own comes to be involved in these matters.  In simple terms, we are either known in our specific field, or we are instructed direct by clients. In this instance, both situations apply.

Insolvency practitioners within RSM Tenon have been appointed to act in cases such as Churchill Wines and Wine Traders International. In those cases, we successfully recovered funds in excess of £2m to date, but in addition with we recovered over £500k in additional assets. Wine Traders is ongoing and we are confident of a return to creditors. This is all being done with the knowledge and support of a creditors committee.

We have been able to make a success of this through our resources and ability to incur costs up front, to second staff from other departments, our ability to utilise RSM Tenon resources such as tax and forensics, and creditors will benefit from the RSMi network in due course. We have also worked without the benefit of cost protection, meaning it is our risk that we take for our clients.

In any event, as requested, I attach for your attention the applicable forms of proof of debt and proxy for your use in relation to the meeting on 30 March 2011.

I can confirm that I would be delighted to assist in relation to the meeting, answer any questions you have at this point and perhaps you can contact me at your convenience to take matters forward.

With kind regards

Mark Hendrick

Associate Director / Corporate Recovery
RSM Tenon
T: 020 7448 8115
F: 020 7448 8105
mark.hendrick@rsmtenon.com
www.rsmtenon.com

BBC Money Box on land banking scams

'Thousands of people are being persuaded to invest large sums of money in land which is almost worthless, the BBC has learned.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said it was investigating about 20 schemes, known as land-banking or land investments.'

Watch the video here of how one man was conned into 'investing' £100,000 in worthless fields. 

CB Vintners/ CBV Publishing: 'Don't risk it' says Tony Hetherington

Tony Hetherington (MailOnline) looks at CBV Publishing/ CB Vintners:

'B.S. writes: I am sending you the mailshot I have received from CBV Publishing. I would really like to have the 15 per cent return that it offers, but in these days of low interest, how on earth can this company pay it? Am I missing out on a great deal? 

His conclusion?

'So, are you missing out on a great deal? Yes  -  a great deal of worry over the next year as you realise that you have handed over your money to a company whose name is nothing like the one it uses, and which is not even in the same country as the only two addresses it gives out. Don't risk it.'

Read more here.

The bin is the best place for Stephen Miles' mailshots. 

  

VinVende Courtier – 'false' bonded warehouse partnership claims

VinVende Courtier, which appears to be based in Hong Kong, claims to have a partnership with London City Bond, one of the UK's leading bonded warehouses. I was told yesterday by LCB that the claims of a special 'partnership' below are 'false' and 'untrue'. The company does, however,  have an account there.

'Vin Vende Courtier has partnered with London City Bond (“LCB”) as part of  our ongoing goal to maximise the security of clients’ wine investments.

Our aim is to give our clients the maximum comfort ininvesting in wine, for example when you buy a case of wine from Vin Vende Courtier yourproof of purchase will include confirmation of London City Bond holding with unique rotation number, certification of ownership and photoconfirmation of your physical wine with  reference numbers that correspondwith all the above  paper work, this is revolutionary within the marketplace and we believe this  is now the only way wines should be traded.'

I don't know how active VinVende Courtier is as both links for their contact details on the website are broken.

UK Fine Wine Investments: compare and contrast

Extract from company website:

'Professional service that is undoubtedly second to none.

Here at UK Fine Wine Investments we are a brokerage specialising in premier cru (meaning First Growth) wines from the Bordeaux region of France. We pride ourselves in delivering of a congruent, first-classed tailored service to each and every client. Not only do our established, select team of brokers and market analysts work perpetually to ensure our client demands are satisfied, they also go that extra mile to embellish a long-lasting positive relationship.'

From Companies House:

UK FINE WINE INVESTMENTS LTD
TOWER 42
OLD BROAD STREET
LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM
EC2N 1HQ
Company No. 07483335

Status: Active Date of Incorporation: 05/01/2011

'to embellish a long-lasting positive relationship' – less than two months to date.

Inheritance tax: current value

Given the alarming number claims on the websites of companies offering wine investment that profits on wine are tax-free in the UK, the following extract from the August 2010 newsletter from HM Revenue & Customs should provide a cold shower of reality.

'Wine valuation

It has been brought to HMRC’s attention that information in the public domain indicates that for Inheritance Tax purposes wine cellars are valued at the purchase price rather than the value at the date of death. This is incorrect.

Section 160 IHTA1984 states that for Inheritance Tax purposes the value of any property is the price it might reasonably be expected to fetch if sold in the open market at that time.

Therefore it is clear that a wine cellar must be valued at its open market value for Inheritance Tax purposes at the time of the relevant occasion of charge.'

*

It should also be remembered that the notion of 'wasting assets' does not apply for the purposes of inheritance tax.