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.  

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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