FlyBe is dead, long live FlyBe
Turns out all it takes to avoid the creditors is a slightly tweaked name and a fresh coat of paint.
Proving that there is indeed life after death, defunct airline FlyBe, bankrupted in March 2020 after failing to secure a £100m loan from the government, is now to be resurrected as a ‘new’ company, FlyBe Ltd, leaving behind unpaid debts amounting to many millions of pounds.
Whilst Ernst and Young (EY) administrators are in the process of repaying some of the debts, an estimated £650m-worth of loans will never be honoured.
Whilst the rebranded firm is set to fly again in 2021, just hear with what breathtaking insouciance the missing millions are spirited away:
“Joint administrators at global business consultancy EY are dealing with the claims and said who gets what has yet to be determined. But EY has said it intends to make a legal application not to distribute the money that has been set aside for unsecured creditors because it would not be cost effective.” (Our emphasis)
In other words, so little cash is in the pot the creditors would receive hardly anything so it is not even worth handing it out to them.
“EY said there is only a maximum of £600,000 in this pot, meaning unsecured creditors would get less than £1,000 each. Some are owed tens of millions.
“An EY spokesperson would only say: ‘Distributions to unsecured creditors as part of the administration are yet to be determined and will be communicated to creditors in due course [!].’” (Huge scale of Flybe debts revealed and creditors may not be paid by William Telford, Business Live, 19 April 2021)
So when you lose your job and default on the mortgage, can you just paint the front door a different colour and get to keep the house whilst the mortgage lender regretfully waves goodbye to the loan?
As ever, it’s one rule for the bosses and another for the rest of us.
