At the meeting, attended by disgruntled ex-employees of Wolverhampton-based Essential Mortgages, the directors of the firm blamed problems with compliance, set-up costs, and administration errors for the demise of Essential.
It was initially believed the directors, Tony While, Mike While, Stephen Davis and Malcolm Henderson, owed just over £390,000.
Wolverhampton-based Essential went into administration on 12 January, leaving thousands of customers having to re-arrange their mortgage and many of its staff out of pocket. Some had invested in excess of £25,000 of their own money into the company and others had paid a £345 joining fee.
One ex-employee who attended the meeting said he questioned the directors about a new venture he believes they have set up. Initially, the company was called Prestige, but is now believed to be named Premier. He said: “The directors initially took a directorship but they are no longer directors. And I am aware that many of the sales force at this company have now resigned after the full-scale of what happened at Essential was revealed to them.”
Another ex-employee said he too believed the directors are involved in a new company. He added that the staff who were part of Essential’s franchised side of the business were not informed of its demise until 10 days after it went under.
The directors denied any connection with the new company at the creditors meeting.
