Halliwells Partners’ Liabilities Begin to Surface
Partners may have escaped the sinking ship intact but there’s outstanding debt floating around and it’s catching up with them…
Some to the tune of £500,000 according to reports.
The debts stem from various sources. Professional practice loans taken out by partners (from The Co-operative Bank and Handelsbanken) to invest in the firm are one, and lending facilities from Royal Bank of Scotland are another. In addition, there are residual liabilities from an earlier property deal.
The now notorious Spinningfields deal stole most of the limelight in the aftermath of the firm’s collapse but a number of partners are still on the hook over liabilities relating to the firm’s original headquarters at St James’s Court in Manchester.
Legal Week: The firm agreed to a rental contract with a break clause in 2013; however, it left the premises in 2007 when it relocated to Spinningfields. A number of partners including litigation partner Paul Thomas and former senior partner Alec Craig acted as guarantors for the 40,000 sq ft space.
Thomas has sent letters of demand to meet rent liabilities to former equity partners.
Looks like things could get messy. Two other ex-Halliwells partners, Matt Wightman and Chris Phillips, who are also apparently named as guarantors on the St James Court lease are already disputing liability, having left in 2009, prior to Halliwells’ collapse.
January 6, 2011
can’t feel sympathy for any particularly Paul Thomas, the saying “what comes around goes around” fits here