The money, which totals £391,197 is owed to ex-staff, shareholders and creditors. The ex-directors have placed Essential in the hands of Birmingham-based creditor Kroll for ‘voluntary liquidation’. The meeting to be held next week will also see ex-directors Tony While, Mike While, Stephen Davis and Malcolm Henderson, explain the reasons for why the firm went into administration.
One ex-employee has informed Mortgage Introducer - News that he is owed £95,000 after the directors of Essential asked the area managers to invest in the company.
He added that two of the ex-directors at Essential had set up a new company on 5 January with some of Essential’s ex-staff but no longer have directorships at the company. The company was originally named Prestige, but is believed to have changed its name.
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 paid a £345 fee on joining Essential.
Another ex-employee who had been at the company since March 2003, said he, along with at least 50 other consultants, are owed £1,700 each in outstanding wages.
He commented: “I am not hopeful that I will get my money back. Many of us are owed six weeks wages while many customers also paid £587 to join Club Essential, which guaranteed that they would have their mortgages re-arranged fee-free for life.”
He added Essential had treated some of the staff to a ‘Fun Day’ last year where one of the directors turned up in a plush £60,000 car – and took the staff bowling. “That’s when I realised perhaps something was going to go wrong within the company,” he said.
Essential is still on the FSA register as authorised but ‘closed to regulated business’. FSA spokesman Robin-Gordon Walker said it cannot take the firm off its register until the situation is resolved.
Essential’s directors were unavailable for comment.
