HMRC is no longer a preferential creditor. The bank will probably not even cover their debts due to the number of qualifications to the accounts across the group.
From CycleNews USA: And there is no shortage of suitors. Amongst those known to be investigating the acquisition of the Norton brand are three Indian manufacturers, as well as Russian investor Timur Sardarov, who recently completed his outright purchase of MV Agusta from the Castiglioni family. In a rerun of 2006 but with different actors, Sardarov says he’s primarily interested in obtaining the use of the 1200 V4 and 650 Atlas engines, presumably for use in an MV Agusta range of models bracketing the forthcoming 950 triples, which will form the main basis of the MV family of bikes in the coming decade. Having access to the Norton trademark is less important for him—but with former Ducati boss Massimo Bordi now running MV Agusta for him, Timur’s mind may be changed for him! Another entrepreneur who must remain nameless, but who has an outstanding track record in the past quarter-century of revitalizing historic brands for stock market flotation, is also working on acquiring Norton and making it a going concern—although if he acquires it, he’ll focus on the parallel-twins which he’s identified as the Norton brand’s mechanical trademark, with the intention of developing a separate family of 1000-1200cc twin-cylinder models to complement the 650 Atlas family. Russian investor Timur Sardarov, owner of MV Agusta, could be one of the potential Norton suitors. Having recently acquired Bimota, with production about to start in Italy in June of a range of models spearheaded by the all-new Euro 5 homologated, hub-center Tesi powered by its supercharged H2 four-cylinder motor, Kawasaki’s parent group Kawasaki Heavy Industries may well consider Norton an attractive British acquisition, which combines a historic brand with leading-edge technology. Also in Asia, apart from the obvious potential benefits to China’s Zongshen giant in acquiring Norton itself, expect its billionaire rival Li Shufu to be interested in adding Norton to his collection of historic brands. The current outright owner of Volvo, Lotus Cars, the London Taxicab Company and, on two wheels, Benelli QJ alongside his Geely car empire and 9.8 percent holding in Daimler-Benz—its largest individual shareholder—is highly likely to be a player in acquiring Norton. Mr. Li is a visionary investor who’s unafraid to roll the dice. The same applies to Indian industrialist Siddhartha Lal, owner of Royal Enfield via his Eicher Corp. parent company. But Lal is unlikely to be interested in Norton, because of growing RE capacity problems which have seen it terminate production of its 500 Classic single seemingly in order to concentrate on meeting the steep demand both in India and abroad for its 650cc Continental GT and Interceptor twins. The 1973 Commando 850 (right) and 2011 Commando 961. Will these great bikes roar again, or is that all she wrote for Norton? Instead, expect greater interest in acquiring Norton to emanate from Rajiv Bajaj, Lal’s counterpart at Bajaj Auto, KTM’s Indian partner which has recently announced a non-equity partnership with John Bloor’s Triumph Motorcycles. For history buffs, the thought of Triumph and Norton cohabiting once again in the same family of brands is an enticing prospect—and the same goes for BSA and Norton. India’s giant Mahindra Corp. is about to relaunch the historic British brand BSA later this year after acquiring the trademark over three years ago in October 2016, and adding Norton to its roster of British brands may be appealing—if only to prevent any of its local rivals from obtaining it. These would be headed by Hero Motocorp, which since splitting from Honda in 2011 has maintained its market leadership in its home market—albeit without any branding other than its own. Adding Norton to its roster as a means of rivaling Royal Enfield’s local leadership in the so-called ‘Superbike’ sector with its 650 twins, might entice Hero boss Pawan Munjal to make a bid for the British company, especially as Hero’s efforts to add significantly to its 7 million-plus annual Indian deliveries via overseas sales are still struggling to get airborne, and renaming its products via a prestigious and globally recognized brand such as Norton, could help resolve that.
I think they might have missed out a few in that article; Keanu Reeves and his Arch Motorcycles or whatever they’re called; Elon Musk and Tesla in order to start making electric powered motorcycles; VW to add to their stable; TATA to add another icon of British automotive history to their stable; I could go on. Seriously it looks like Cycleworld sat around, played a game, and turned it into an article. Not knocking you Kirky just their article.
True for corporation tax and some other taxes but untrue where PAYE & VAT are concerned and iirc the 300k HMRC were requesting in court a few weeks back related to PAYE and NI which had been deducted from employees pay packets but not handed over to HMRC - naughty Stuart.
IIRC, PAYE liability has some sort of primacy in the creditor pecking order. This used to cause quite a bit of friction between creditors (and between various HMRC departments who all wanted their cut).
The rest of the article was pretty light on Stuart Garner so they hadn't done too much in depth research but I thought the Indian interest made some sense. Imagine some unknown Indian bike being able to carry the Norton name? As earlier post; I really hope that Triumph take them on!
Possible. I mean look at royal enfield? The Benelli imperiale is a rebadged 400cc indian made motorcycle
Given the name has been dragged through the mud (not for the first time) what would Triumph gain? I can see why the Chinese or some other company without a recognisable brand could be keen, but Triumph? A Norton association might damage the Triumph brand!
Not at the moment. It was removed a few years ago but after consultation last year taxes that are held by the company on behalf of others they have taken it from, will become a secondary preferential creditor behind employees.
VAT takes priority, IR comes second, banks come in third, and everyone else comes after that. If there’s anything left.
vat here always takes the first bite off the cherry as it was charged to the customer on behalf of revenue so its actually there money id say its the same in the uk ?
If you paid the deposit with a bank card, you have protection under section 75. My claim is in process though I expect it to take some time: Section 75 offers protection for items or services valued from £100 to £30,000, of which at least part of the purchase (such as a deposit) was made with a credit card. Purchases under and over these thresholds cannot be considered. So, if you buy something for £500 but only pay £50 with a credit card, you would be protected for the full amount. But if the full value of the item was only £75, you wouldn't.
I should have said there is zero chance of getting any money back from Norton or the administrators. I would guess you might have to wait for the administration process to be complete before a credit card will refund because if someone does buy the Company, its possible bikes might be built and delivered.
Shouldn’t have to wait for the administration to be sorted out before getting a refund from a credit card co. It’s all to do with contract law.
The latest in the saga... A handful of bikes in for servicing and warranty work, have been stripped and the parts put onto other bikes to get more bikes out the door. People have been to collect their bikes and been pointed in the direction of a few frames.
They certainly should. One fella said he only had storage insurance as his was a zero mile bike only in for warranty work on the chrome. He is now trying to claim off Norton's buildings insurance for theft.
