Vinance PLC, which started life as Morgan Aston Ford, was put into administration on Friday 16th November. It is not known what the deficiency is at the moment. Insolvency practioners, Herron Fisher, have been appointed as administrators.
Those investors who have their wine is their own private accounts should not be affected. However, those who are waiting to have their wine allocated, purchased or are awaiting en primeur wines will not be so lucky. They will be unsecured creditors.
In echoes of Bordeaux UK's collapse last year Herron Fisher note that: 'Unfortunately the company records are
not perfect and it will take some time for us to establish the exact position.'
Morgan Aston Ford was set up on 7th January 2002 and was dissolved on 15th June 2010. Vinance plc was founded on 11th August 2008 and took over from Morgan Aston Ford.
Press release here:
'Herron Fisher, insolvency practitioners, have been appointed administrators of Vinance Plc a well-known wine portfolio manager / broker.
Based in Greenwich, London, Vinance Plc manages more than GBP £50 million worth of fine wine assets for thousands of investor clients in nine countries.
Herron Fisher have now taken over the day-to-day control and management of the company, which was put into administration in the High Court on Friday 16 November 2012.
Herron Fisher will aim to rescue the company as a going concern, or failing that achieve a better result for the company’s creditors as a whole than would be likely if the company was simply wound up (liquidated).
Nicky Fisher of Herron Fisher said, “We will perform our functions in the interest of the company’s creditors as a whole. We understand that many clients will be unaffected as all of their wine has been allocated to them and is either held in bonded warehouses or they already have control of it themselves. There will unfortunately be some investors who have not been allocated all of their wines and there are no wines awaiting allocation, nor are we able to buy any more wine. Unfortunately the company records are not perfect and it will take some time for us to establish the exact position.
“In the meantime, we will endeavour to find a buyer for the business.”
The administrators are hopeful that creditors will ultimately be repaid approximately 50% of their debt; however, this will take some time.
Herron Fisher, led by Chris Herron and Nicky Fisher, is an expert corporate recovery and insolvency firm. Between them they have managed the insolvencies of Meccano Toys Ltd and one of the largest illegal banks ever wound up by the Bank of England, as well as online gift retailers The Gift Registry Ltd and Wedding List Direct Ltd.
For more information visit: www.herronfisher.co.uk or e-mail
vinance@herronfisher.co.uk'
Based in Greenwich, London, Vinance Plc manages more than GBP £50 million worth of fine wine assets for thousands of investor clients in nine countries.
Herron Fisher have now taken over the day-to-day control and management of the company, which was put into administration in the High Court on Friday 16 November 2012.
Herron Fisher will aim to rescue the company as a going concern, or failing that achieve a better result for the company’s creditors as a whole than would be likely if the company was simply wound up (liquidated).
Nicky Fisher of Herron Fisher said, “We will perform our functions in the interest of the company’s creditors as a whole. We understand that many clients will be unaffected as all of their wine has been allocated to them and is either held in bonded warehouses or they already have control of it themselves. There will unfortunately be some investors who have not been allocated all of their wines and there are no wines awaiting allocation, nor are we able to buy any more wine. Unfortunately the company records are not perfect and it will take some time for us to establish the exact position.
“In the meantime, we will endeavour to find a buyer for the business.”
The administrators are hopeful that creditors will ultimately be repaid approximately 50% of their debt; however, this will take some time.
Herron Fisher, led by Chris Herron and Nicky Fisher, is an expert corporate recovery and insolvency firm. Between them they have managed the insolvencies of Meccano Toys Ltd and one of the largest illegal banks ever wound up by the Bank of England, as well as online gift retailers The Gift Registry Ltd and Wedding List Direct Ltd.
For more information visit: www.herronfisher.co.uk or e-mail
vinance@herronfisher.co.uk'
Absolutely gutted with this I am lucky my portfolio is probably relatively small compared to some but after my broker left 2 months ago and no-one would return my calls I should have seen this coming. I had been trying to get out of Vinance for over a year beore this point as I still have two wines awaiting delivery (suprisingly the ones with greatest value) looks like I have been burned. Con artisits one and all
ReplyDeleteWell I should have seen this coming when my broker left 2 months ago. He had made constant reassurances about the company being in a good state. The fact that he cited bad customer service made sense at the time as I had been trying to get out for a year. But now all though my portfolio is small compared to most the biggest chunk of it is still to be delivered so not good at all. bunch of con's I hope all involved are named and shamed.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why we're now calling them conmen. Looks to me like they've simply gone bust, which is unfortunate, certainly, poor management possibly, but a con? Why would we assume that after a decade in business?
ReplyDeleteAnon. You are right there needs to be more evidence before Vinance can be labelled a con, although that in part depends upon what people were told. What we don't know is whether the money paid over for en primeur purchases was passed on. Or what happened to money paid for wine over the last months? Equally did Vinance continue to trade while insolvent? Hopefully this will become clearer.
DeleteHi Jim
ReplyDeleteThe real question is being missed. Vinance is probably a very clean company, it has to be being a PLC, however we come to the transfer of accounts and monies from between Vinance PLC and Morgan Aston Ford
My personal opinion, if there are discrepancies it is with Morgan Aston Ford Ltd, Which I believe holds all the answers
Dear Jim
ReplyDeleteOne other thing, a company does not normally take on another companies business, even if the directors are there same, were there any goodwill payments between the two companies, were there any guaranteed payments to the directors of Morgan Aston Ford as part of the change over
My personal opinion is that Vinace was still working on a strategy that worked for years but with the internet, makes wine dealing far more price competitive and difficult without a whole shift
Funny how it comes as COMET closes, using a far larger situation to mask? cover? what may have been going on!
I believe in my opinion this was a planned execution and they were just bidding there time so they could say well, " look what happened to COMET " as an excuse!!!!!!!
I always found moving from Morgan Aston Ford to Vinance plc was curious.
DeleteDear Jim,
ReplyDeleteI am very disturbed by this turn of events.
I'm of the belief that there must have been a fraud and some serious miss management taking place.
I had purchased wine through both Morgan Aston Ford and Vinance. I found my Broker very helpful, but the moment i required updates on a wine sale or of even more importance my outstanding rotation numbers, i was met by a wall of silence from the Director's Mike Wallen, Paul and Simon Ford. When i threatened legal proceedings against the Company, i received an email from the Company apologising for the delay. They said the delay was due to delays with the wine suppliers. These were physical cases of wine that were purchased over six years ago and they are only telling me now that they have not been delivered!!! Jim, do think i should report this too the police?
I suggest that you contact the administrators first. If you do make a complaint then the best option is probably through Action Fraud.
DeleteI couldn't believe my eyes when reading this post. It was the same exact experience I had with them, word-for-word:
DeleteWall of silence at first then when threatened with legal proceedings they gave me the same excuse about problems with their suppliers for physical cases of wine bought many years ago. It didn't make any sense whatsoever. I would be very surprised if there wasn't any wrong doing involved.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteI've been carrying out my own investigations and come across this article concerning two Company Director's of Vinance Plc - Mike Wallen and Simon Earl.
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/bromley/9647859.Men_in_court_accused_of_running_cocaine_and_champagne_fuelled_brothel/
This appears to cast serious doubts on their characters. No smoke without fire!
The trial will be in January, so for the moment they haven't been found guilt and they may, of course, be cleared.
DeleteI think things must have turned for the worse some time ago as I did actually mange to sell two of my wines at one point even though I had to push pretty hard for my money but as i mentioned before when I came to selling the second time round or getting rottion numbers I was told it was on it's way and wouldn't be an issue. Before my broker left I actually challenged him on the time it took to deliver this and he said that as far as he was concerned the company was sound and was just riding out the storm. The cases were purchased nd paid for so even if the worst did happen it didn't matter as these were physical He actually tried to encourge me to join him at his new brokerage too. I guess this is one to watch out for for investors ensure there are gaurenteed delivery times.
ReplyDeleteI have been with AF/Vinance for years both buying and selling. They certainly were reputable but I always thought there was a flaw in their business model. They make all their money when we buy. When we sell it is all cost for them. In the last few years I suspect buying dropped and selling increased. So unless they were wise enough to retain funds from the good years to match their liabilities to cover selling costs ... obvious they weren't that clever/honest? They will have known that this was coming for sometime but no one ever admits they are in trouble that would just cause a flood of creditors.
ReplyDeleteI bought wine and then tried to get them to sell, but to no avail. They kept saying there has been a market downturn, just keep hold of them for now.
ReplyDeleteProblem is I don't even know where that wine is and whether it can still be identified back to me as an owner.
Who should I contact to claim ownership of the wine? What steps do we need to take next? What a mess!.
Anon. Exactly the problem with an upfront commission, no incentive to sell your wine.
DeleteYou should contact Herron Fisher about your wine.
Hi looks like we are going to have to play the waiting game...... Something which we (wine investers) are already well accustomed with! So sorry for those who have invested heavily in wine. I'm still waiting for news on a certin Bordeux uk. Is there any good wine news?
ReplyDeleteThe whole scenario seems rather similar to the previous broker that went into administration, because before Morgan Aston Ford there was Morgan Chantell. However, if there is any consolation and hope going forward the wine was all secure and allocated to the investor and it was MAF on that occasion that took up the reins for the individuals.
ReplyDeleteLike some of the investors above I am also missing rotation numbers. But looking on the bright side.
Can't believe there are still people around daft enough to innvest in schemes like this. Fools and their money...........
ReplyDeleteEdited comment from anon: Action Fraud is not really helpful. I have reported to Action Fraud for 3 time over the last couple of years and no action have been taken. They all looks like same stories. Someone is unjustly enriched in the whole process. I am experiencing another painful experience with a supplier.
ReplyDeleteI have just read a report from the administrator in there it says that the money paid by the clients wasn't actually used to purchase wine but for running costs. Surely this constitutes a criminal act if I purchase something physical and the person takes the money for themself it's theft.
ReplyDeleteAnon. Do you have a copy of the report please? The administrator is required to report to the Insolvency Service on the running of the company. The company should be pricing its goods to allow it both to cover its running costs and to buy the wine ordered.
DeleteAnon. Do you have a copy of the report please? The administrator is required to report to the Insolvency Service on the running of the company. The company should be pricing its goods to allow it both to cover its running cost and to buy the wine ordered.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies Jim I only have a paper copy but the part that concerns me though is this paragraph.
ReplyDeleteIt transpires that sometimes the company took money from clients but did not buy the wine immediately and the money was used for general overheads. In a rising market the company had enough liquidity had enough money to repay clients if necessary, or to buy the wine at short notice, and so customers did not suffer. However as the wine market began to fall the company ran out of cash and client service began to suffer.
Mike Wallen was sentenced yesterday to 2 years 5 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to managing a brothel.
ReplyDeleteAnon. Many thanks for this. Are you sure it was yesterday. This article in the Mail suggests it was at the beginning of the month:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2272046/Teacher-turned-pimp-jailed-running-1m-year-bankers-brothel-cocaine-den.html
The article in the Times today (p15)suggests the sentencing was yesterday, but doesnt specifically say so. So I'm afraid to say that the Mail is probably right on that one.
ReplyDeleteAnon. I think it must have been at the beginning of the month as there are other reports around that date.
ReplyDeleteWOW! What a shock to discover how the mighty hath fallen. I worked for Morgan Aston Ford and was fired in 2007 without any form of disciplinary or warning having worked at the company for little over 2 years.
ReplyDeleteSimon Ford the son of former Chairman, Timothy Ford had decided he would take up the post of Sales Director having never sold a thing in his life, or even worked a day in his life for that matter. I was dismissed after a one-to-one with Simon Ford for my queries regarding our investor's interests and how we were performing on their behalf. I claimed unfair dismissal and they settled out of court. Considering Timothy Ford was a partner at one of London's oldest law firms specialising in employment law I took this as an admission that they hadn't gone throuh the correct procedures. Who knows - I may have hit a nerve.
I hold wine with Vinance currently but one of my cases has an 'Order of Sale' against it which I never instructed. To think the people that I trusted my savings and livelihood with are in jail is shocking.
Our customers made net profits of £40m
ReplyDeleteWe contributed circa £2m to the nations's coffers
Our staff annual average earnings were £65k p.a. (Directors average annual earnings were £35k p.a.)
We created circa 70 jobs
We were the first to disclose our fees giving hitherto unseen transparency to the UK wine investment market
We couldn't control the Credit Crunch and depressed market
We as directors and owners of the business made nothing
No, our efforts first time around weren't perfect. We hope to have the chance to make amends...
Simon Ford
Thank you Simon Ford. Where do these figures come from please and have they been independently audited?
DeleteIt would be good if you would comment on the following para from one of the administrator's reports to creditors please.
'It transpires that sometimes the company took money from clients but did not buy the wine immediately and the money was used for general overheads. In a rising market the company had enough liquidity had enough money to repay clients if necessary, or to buy the wine at short notice, and so customers did not suffer. However as the wine market began to fall the company ran out of cash and client service began to suffer.'
I would suggest that at present the last thing needed is yet another wine investment company however it is run.