As I suspected, the landlord (Revolver Marketing aka Seb Barnett) of the units foreclosed MSB, citing concerns about the proprietors health.

The business was fundamentally OK, despite the usual cash-flow issues that plague many SME’s, in that the administrators achieved some £176K more than they expected from the sales of the assets of the business and the landlord, Seb Barnett was subsequently paid in full (some £108K).

However, Mr. Barnetts somewhat precipitous actions mean that other (non-preferred) creditors will not see much money returned, I’m guessing something between 5-15p in the £1.

That is that.

It would seem that this businessman somehow got involved with some very heavy-duty Sarf London criminals, associates of the notorious Kenny Noye, currently banged-up for a road-rage murder.

My source says that the unfortunate proprietor had to literally flee for his life once the true identity of his ‘investors’ became apparent and that was the end of that particular motorcycle business.

Now fate appears to have dealt yet another blow to this fellow – the owner of the industrial unit appears to have foreclosed on Midland Superbikes, which seems to have been trading satisfactorily up until fairly recently and the new climate of ‘cuts’, which has left all concerned, staff, customers and suppliers, in a very difficult position.

I must say that I am less than impressed with the stance that MCN are taking over this matter. Nowhere in this week’s article by reporter Steve Farrell is any acknowlegdement of MCN’s role – i.e. the fact that they pushed this business via their ‘Destination Dealer’ promotion or that they often borrowed motorcycles and kit from Midlands Superbikes for articles. Maybe MCN should stick to straight reportage and not attempt ‘New of The World’ style journalism (although I’m told that the NOTW pay their journalists very well).

‘Nothing is ever quite what it seems’.

Well, this is not a typical situation to be honest, but what it does signal to the masses is that some people will go to extreme lengths to meet the commitments of todays troubled business, even if it’s not completely legal to do so.

Keep coming back and we will keep the post updated as and when we get more information from the respectful parties involved.

Best of luck in what you do, where ever you are.

Regards
Darren
Editor

Thank you for a considered reply.

I do not really know much at all about this particular business (Midland Superbikes or its staff) other than what I picked up from MCN and the Web but am interested in motorcycles and crucially, have a contact who is a m/c dealer in England, who told me that business has been very bad for quite some time.

Looks as if the motorcycle dealers are scrabbling around for a piece of a rapidly shrinking pie.

One must feel sorrow for all involved, customers, staff, suppliers – none of it is good for anybody except the ‘vultures’ who come along to pick over the bones i.e. the Begbie Traynors of this world.

Doing a little research on the web led me to my assessment of the situation at that particular business and is also probably the case at other significant dealerships which are failing/failed.

At this juncture, the ‘investors’ are getting very nervous indeed as they see 2011 predicted to be pretty dire all round.

Usually, these failed businesses turn out to be civil rather than criminal cases, which is why the Police do not want to get involved – besides the jails are full of motorists and mentally ill people and cost taxpayers around £6K per week per prisoner, but I digress.

I understand what is involved in building a business, it takes an incredible amount of hard work and it can all be gone in an instant.

The ‘ride’ or journey can be very rocky indeed.

regards

Manx.

Let me take a couple of points and strip them back for you and other readers to understand:

Being placed as a “Destination Dealer” within MCN is to a degree, an honourable position – and should be not only treated this way by people who are looking at buying a product or service from a ‘Trusted Dealer’, but by the dealer as well. Frankly, whilst allowing a bike shop to be on this self propelled platform, it needs to be marshalled better by the company issuing the service too.

The major cash flow for MSB went dry in March this year, which is when he lost his sales manager. Obviously, at that point, Roger made some clouded decisions in how he was going to take his business forward, one of them being: ‘Using SOR Stock.’ Sadly, the decline took grasp and made things even worse, and whilst taking direction with a clouded vision, the choice of route was not completely ‘legitimate’ – shall we say.

As for Revolver Marketing – I don’t fully understand their stance, but I guess over time it will come out in the wash, much like the private individuals who have left their machines for sale and never had the funds from them.

Roger went to Nat West earlier this year, when he wanted to expand the ‘Accessories and Clothing’ side to the business. And even then, with a good years books behind him for 08-09, they refused to help him along the rocky route of business expansion. IMO – this could have been when Revolver decided enough was enough.

In this economic climate I have the greatest of sympathy with those who are sailing close to the edge. But what I do not condone are business people who trick private individuals out of their hard earned money, by promising to sell goods and return them a certain amount and then pocket the cash to help his business continue.

There had to be an element of pre-meditated mismanagement, call it what you wish – or he would have never committed so many thoughtless acts of fraud against those who were trusting his position within the industry because of things like the MCN Destination Dealer and others alike.

Over the next couple of days, I shall be talking with the Police and the administrators to see what their stance is on this whole situation, and will report it back here for everyone to read.

Thanks for your comments, Manx – and let us hope that we can see a light at the end of the tunnel for those who have been taken for a ride!

Darren Moore
Editor

I think you’ll find that sales fell of the proverbial cliff, post General Election as the punters decided that their job situation might be very uncertain and so buying a motorcycle dropped off their priority list.

Consequently, I suspect a major backer of the business may have got cold feet as the cash flow dried up and decided to pull the plug … probably the landlord of the unit aka Revolver Marketing (Seb Barnett?).

Many other motorcycle businesses are also failing in the current climate because trade has dropped off drastically, not just because of teh recession but also because Government has, over time, made it progressively harder for youngsters to get on powered two-wheelers.

Nat-West bank are well known for funding SME’s but generally, they would not fund a motorcycle business in the current econmic climate.

regards

Manx.

All the same, I am liking this years so far, lets wait and see if they announce anything about next years when Simon has got married – as this could play a big role in his future on UK TV.

Come on Facebook, you have had long enough time to work out how your site works, there’s no excuse.

It’s more like Fu**** up, not facebook!!!