andyj007 Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 just how many employyees and how many directors were there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan_G Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 Such sad news. 😔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 For those members active across the social media platforms, please don’t hesitate to pass on/post the link I gave previously, and repeat below. https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/148068-westfield-administration-help-for-members/#comment-1565709 While as a club we may have a duty to look after our own members in this troublesome time, we won’t turn our backs on any Westfield owner, new or old either. It’s why I’ve put it in the reachable by all, Start Line, then it’s right at the top of the forum. If you are a business, (or one of our own traders already), and want to reach out and offer support, please let me know. I can either post on your behalf in the thread above, or we you can post directly. Please pass this on. Forget brands, we’re all enthusiasts in the end, and now is the time we need to reach out and look after each other. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOGGY S7 Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 3 hours ago, Mark Stanton said: Just a thought: Sure there are many builders out there with uncompleted projects and parts still required. As many of the parts are supplied by third party companies, could a list of these be drawn up with contact telephone numbers and put on a locked thread for members to contact and obtain what they need. Its quite possible a number of these suppliers are on the creditors lists and would welcome the business to recoup monies and keep going themselves. As far as I am aware all parts were outsourced with nothing made in house. Sorry if this gives the Comm an initial headache, however, with the extensive knowledge the club has surely this is time to pull together for all our new builders, if everyone compiled a list and emailed it over for editing and posting. Thanks Very useful this statement. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 One other point, at this stage 99.9% of us do not know either the full reasons nor time scale of events, so speculation on the whys and wherefores can be misleading to say the least. Ive spoken to a lot of people in the industry today, at various distances from the factory, relationship wise. Most seem genuine shocked by this weeks events and while the cash flow ebb and flow of companies like Westfield is oft discussed, as it has been over many, many years on here, too. The feeling is that this is something er bigger and outside the normal scope. For those not sure what the nature of administration is, or what it might entail, one of the industry links recommended this page to our readers. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/insolvency/content/104038 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p k Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 https://www.linkedin.com/company/potenza-sports-cars/about/ https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11735020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan France Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 10 hours ago, paul k said: https://www.linkedin.com/company/potenza-sports-cars/about/ https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11735020 That’s one of the dormant ones, I believe the trading company is Potenza Enterprises Ltd. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03964504/filing-history I think the Russian comments are wrong. Check out the most recent Confirmation Statement for a list of the 5 shareholders. Also check out the Oct 21 accounts shareholders funds versus money owed to them by Westfield Technology group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meel Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 Very sad to see them in big trouble, especially as I'd bought a starter SDV kit and had delayed getting the bodywork until I needed it. I doubt i'll ever see that bodywork now 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenstreak-Andy D Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 Echo the sympathies to staff and sad news sentiments. @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman is doing a great job to gather support from the kit car industry. Just wanted to commend your efforts Dave. Personally, I feel confident a solution is out there. The AV business could be split from the sports cars, along with GTM and Chesil. Time will tell. This is a great passionate and supportive club. The knowledge within will help all in years to come. Andy 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajpearson Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 Its sad news for the staff, and for the brand. I had been looking at the Chesil quite closely recently as would love one, and an XI, but I don't have the space at the moment so didn't go anywhere with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelO Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 I don't believe that Potenza Enterprises Ltd has any external investors. Their last balance sheet is healthy, with plenty of cash at hand (as well as debtors of c. £2m - see below). The accounts show less than £20k liabilities, so Potenza is clearly solvent. I've met a couple of the directors / shareholders of Potenza back when they bought Westfield - they were clients of a financial adviser I worked for at the time. They seemed like good people, although I accept that appearances can be deceiving and times can change. Looking at the Westfield books, the debt position to Westfield Technology Group Ltd increased from c. £1.2m in 2020 to £1.3m in 2021. Interestingly however, Westfield Sports Cars are owed £1.3m by Westfield Autonomous Vehicles, up from c. £0.7m the year before. Westfield Technology Group Ltd is an investment company - they owe £2.2m to their parent, Potenza Enterprises Ltd and are owed £1.3m by Westfield Sports Cars Ltd and £0.75m by Westfield Autonomous Vehicles Ltd. It's a tangled web of inter-company debt, although not that unusual in a group structure. The only significant debt that doesn't appear to be to a parent company is to Birmingham City Council - a mortgage on property. Purely hypothesising, but it's conceivable that Westfield defaulted on their mortgage payment to BCC and the council have called the debt in and Potenza don't have any more money to bale out Westfield. Maybe Potenza does have the money, but on the eve of a likely recession, are they willing to pump more cash into a business that will likely suffer a downturn when potential owners rein in their discretionary spending. Regardless, I really hope that the administrators can find a way to keep the company trading in one form or another. My own opinion (for what it's worth) is that if they concentrated purely on cars, there's a profit to be made. They could sub-contract their fabrication and composite expertise to external customers if required in order to supplement the income. Good luck to everyone involved, especially the 30-ish people at Kingswinsford that are facing redundancy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhett Turner - Black Country AO Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 34 minutes ago, NigelO said: West Bromwich that are facing redundancy It's Kingswinford where Westfield are located and the staff have already been made redundant unfortunately. From what I understand the arrival of the administrators was quite sudden and a total surprise. I believe it was an announcement to clear your desks, sorry, etc, etc and then the administrator was there before they'd gone. I too believe it's not a malicious inter company ruse but one or more creditors pulling the rug from under their feet, which together with the economic down turn and energy price rises forced their hands. Very, very sad, I really feel for the departed staff, their supply chain, the customers now left in varying states of despair and to a degree the directors who've I dealt with over the last 10 years I've been associated with the brand. The last feeling could change either way as more information becomes available assuming it becomes public knowledge. I did take time to reflect on my build and how had this happened it would have effected me. Based on that I do really feel for those in the middle of a build who are going to be effected to a smaller or lesser degree. During my build it was the factory I turned to for advice and guidance it was only later that I fully understood the value of the club. I'd purchased a full kit and had I been left with missing bits be they major of minor I'd have struggled, regardless of the cost implications, to know how to fill in the blanks. This I think is an area where the club and it's members could be of real service. I don't know if it's possible or viable to get a list of purchasers of kits over the last 12 months (give or take) so that we (the club) can content them to make sure they are aware of the help that we can offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelO Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 44 minutes ago, Rhett Turner - Black Country AO said: It's Kingswinford where Westfield are located... Oops - not sure where I got West Brom from - now edited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory's Dad Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 Thinkin' aloud. The biggest asset is the BRAND IMO. The interest in Westfield by its competitors is for that reason alone IMO. The other assets are the bodywork and the rear uprights both of which could be reproduced. That's for the WSCC to acquire together with the archive, CAD stuff and drawings (if it can/wants to)!! The rest can be outsourced again through the wSCC. No idea about Chesil. GTM and the pod stuff - separate sale IMO. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnL Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 Fibreglass Sports Car Body Panels - NORCO Composites & GRP Suppliers to Westfield 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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