Government Seeks To Bar Directors Following MG Rover Collapse

Evidence is being compiled to bring proceedings against the MG Rover Group (MGRG) directors to prevent them running other companies in the future, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has announced.

The announcement was made today as the government published the results of an independent investigation into the collapse of MGRG.

The inquiry was set up by the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry after MGRG, the manufacturer of Rover and MG cars, went into administration on April 8 2005, owing creditors nearly £1.3 billion. 6,500 people lost their jobs.

According to the report the bosses, Peter Beale, John Edwards, Nick Stephenson and John Towers, known as the Phoenix Four, plus Chief Executive Kevin Howe, gave themselves "unreasonably large" payments totalling £42 million when the firm went bust.

The report said: "During the five-year period, the members of the Phoenix Consortium and Mr Howe obtained large, and we say unreasonably large, financial rewards totalling tens of millions of pound."

In a statement to the media, the Phoenix Four said: "The report is entirely as we expected - a witch hunt against us and a whitewash for the government.

"It drips with the hallmarks of this government - spin, smear and point blank refusal to take any responsibility for their own actions.

"We criticised the government for failing to help MG Rover. As we have seen elsewhere, there is a price to be paid for criticising this government and for us the price is this report."

MG Rover was taken over for a nominal £10 in 2000 from German car manufacturer BMW. An interest-free loan of £427m was also secured from the previous owners.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) does not intend to launch a criminal investigation into the collapse.

The report also found evidence of questionable briefings to the press by government officials.

(GK/KMcA)