Creditors giving no clues as to decision on Terras' CVA
By Derek Bish

Saturday 6th March 2010

MAJOR creditors who could hold the key to Weymouth FC’s future are remaining tight-lipped on whether they would support chairman George Rolls’ proposed Com-pany Voluntary Arrange-ment (CVA).

The Terras have offered those they owe money a deal of 9p in the pound over five years – which would cut their debt from more than £800,000 to less than £100,000.

Major creditor Malcolm Curtis (owed more than £200,000) has already refused to comment on the CVA, and that has been followed up today by HMRC (£78,000 owed) and Barclays Bank (£31,900) declining to disclose what their likely decision will be.

However, Lisa Billard, of HMRC, did say: “HMRC’s strict duty of confidentiality means we cannot comment on the tax affairs of individual businesses, but we remain absolutely committed to demonstrating a sympathetic approach to businesses that have genuine short-term difficulties in paying the tax they owe.

“We always try to work together to agree time to pay in order to keep viable businesses in business.

“The bottom line is people and businesses do need to pay the UK taxes to which they are liable, and no business should have an unfair advantage over its competitors by not paying the tax due.”

A spokeswoman for Barclays added: “We have worked closely with Weymouth FC over many months to resolve some of the high profile issues the club is facing and we continue to welcome constructive dialogue with Weymouth FC to achieve a satisfactory resolution for all parties concerned.”

HMRC have recently taken a hard stance with football clubs who owe tax. The Terras’ Blue Square South rivals Lewes found themselves in court over unpaid taxes before finally raising the cash while higher-profile clubs such as Portsmouth, Cardiff City and Southend United have also been summoned to court by HMRC.

St John Ambulance and AKI Ltd (Building Cont-ractors) were also unsure what their stance would be on the CVA but both were unhappy that the club had reached such a stage.

A spokesman for AKI Ltd pinned the blame on the previous board of directors, while a spokeswoman for St John Ambulance said: “We are not happy and I don’t think anyone on the list will be. Volunteers have provided first aid cover and there is only a nominal fee for their time.”

She added: “We provide that cover so games can go ahead and other suppliers have provided them with things so the games can go ahead.