> ------------------------------ > > Message: 9 > Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:11:51 -0000 > From: "Einar Solheim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [LU] Anti-Bates-ers > To: ?ystein Bj?ndal Lund <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > reply-type=original > >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: "?ystein Bj?ndal Lund" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> > >>>I honestly can't pick out a single action from Bates that any HONEST >>>business man would not have done to try to protect their investment. > >>I don't agree! >>Every honest business man would pay the taxes... This is actually just >>some >>money being collected for the community, by law it has to be put in a bank >>account of it's own, and then transferred every 2nd month or so... > > BUT, Bates has -according to something presented to the media by Bates > (of > course I will never know if this is true or not) - paid a lot more of > these > taxes than HE has collected. The debt to the taxman was an old debt that > was present when Bates took over and he had been paying it down for the > last > few years. However - after falling down to 3rd division he could not > continue to do so (the company was insolvent). If true - my statment > stands > that Bates has not really done anything that any honest business man would > not have done to try to protect their investment. > > Einar. >
Leeds United crisis hits our businesses SMALL businesses in Harrogate have been left out of pocket by the financial collapse of Leeds United Football Club. Among the 1,300-plus creditors who will now receive just 1p for every pound owed are at least two of the town's companies. STL Systems will receive £16.27 instead of the £1,627 owed, while Ramus Seafood Ltd will get back just over £22 and not the £2,217 it would have otherwise received. Speaking this week, STL's managing director Andrew Simister said the deal to take Leeds United out of administration was "disgraceful". He is furious that businesses owed money by Leeds United were not given the chance to vote for any of the other financial bids for the club, all of which would have given creditors a better deal. And, like many small creditors, Mr Simister can't understand the background to the deal. He said: "In our terms, it's not a significant amount but it's the principle. If every customer decided to do what Leeds United have done, then we would be in trouble." Jonathan Batchelor, managing director of Ramus, which has provided seafood for Leeds United's banqueting suite for over 13 years, said: "I find the whole thing a huge mess; a tragedy." "What really annoys me and a lot of other people in our situation is that in a normal business environment this kind of thing can't happen. In any other line of business the way this has been gone about wouldn't have been allowed." Mr Batchelor was particularly annoyed that insolvency rules governing football clubs gave full protection to debts owed to other clubs and players, to the detriment of small creditors. Although a Leeds fan who wants the club to survive, Mr Batchelor added: "Companies like this should be made to work within the same parameters that the rest of us do." "The kind of figures involved can do a lot of damage to a small business, but the club can just carry on." And to add insult to financial injury, Mr Simister said he had received a letter inviting the company to hold its Christmas and New Year's Eve parties at Elland Road. Source: Harrogate Advertiser 8 June 2007 - - You've got to say, he has got a bloody good point. Imagine if this had happened to the small business you ran or one you worked for. If you ended up getting your P-45 I don't think a lot of people here would be praising Ken Bates' shady dealings quite so much. It does seem like one rule for football teams and another rule for all other types of businesses. Ripping people off is not the right way to go about things, and going into administration if you're a football club or declaring bankruptcy personally or as a business is also not the correct thing to do. These should only ever be as a very last resort when all other avenues have been exhausted and there really is no alternative. These small businesses that have been ripped off by LU didn't deserve that, and we as supporters also don't deserve to still be stuck with Bates and Wise. Bates doesn't give two hoots about Leeds United, he only cares about making a quick buck. I for one am very suspicious about how a team that got the the playoff final the season previous could then find itself so low down the league and relegated the next season, unless it had been planned. We had a squad of players capable of finishing in the top three positions in the league last season. The way I see it is Bates has planned all this meticulously with his sidekick Wise as manager. The plan was to get Leeds relegated so the value of the club goes down even further, go into and out of administration clearing the debts and buying the club back for a rock bottom price. Then take the club back up the divisions and when eventually back in the Premiership sell it for a vast profit. The dealings between Bates and administrators KPMG was rotten to the core. Is there anyone who doesn't believe that something dodgy and underhand went on between KPMG and Bates? Anyone who thinks Bates is an honest broker smelling of white roses is living in cloud cuckoo land. He's a deceitful crook and the sooner we lose both him and Wise the better. Cheers Sniffer-Dog _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist Join The Leeds United Supporters Trust at www.lufctrust.org
