High Street Group - another dodgy mini-bond
Discussion
This all looks potentially concerning to lenders to High Street Grp (strange spelling) and High Street Commercial Finance. I was pestered by around 4 separate unregulated 'introducers' in recent years offering me high interest lending 'opportunities'. The FCA really needs to wake up to all these sharks preying on the public! Always struck me as odd that this vast empire has been controlled by just one director, Gary Forrest. Didn't seem to lend (sorry!) credibility to their plan to IPO in a couple of years.
https://bondreview.co.uk/2021/01/19/high-street-gr...
https://bondreview.co.uk/2021/01/19/high-street-gr...
I've just stumbled on another rather unfavourable forum thread re Mr Forrest
https://www.dosbods.co.uk/topic/14805-the-high-str...
He sounds a character!
[i] THIS is the story of Gary Forrest, chairman of a group of companies recently valued at £1.2bn and manager of West Auckland football club, going OK but worth a few bob less.
“We’re now aiming at £3bn by 2022,” he says, and it shouldn’t be a column, it should be a book.
He’s 50, left school at 16 – “GCSEs? Two, I think” – began working life on a job creation scheme helping lay footpaths at Jubilee Park in Spennymoor.
“In those days you didn’t just sit around on community schemes playing computer games all day,” he recalls.
Yes they did. It was 1985 ffs.
Hes building a sky scraper! Got to be legit.
Now he flies the world first class, dizzy heights for a lad with two GCSEs. The average Northern League football ground may be supposed closer to economy
What did he co between laying footpaths on a YTS at 16 and building skyscrapers? Thsts a bit of a CV hole.
“They gave me a psychometric test and it literally went off the paper. They asked if I had the ambition to own a Porsche and I said that if I had a Porsche I’d want a Ferrari and if I had a Ferrari I’d want a Lamborghini.
As I arrive he’s on the phone, “Rothschild” and “mobilising equity” mentioned in the same sentence. He’s casually dressed, welcoming, wholly affable despite that the Northern League management committee once hauled him in (as he puts it) for persistently becoming a bit too excitable while at Shildon.
“My wife calls me a robot, says I have no emotions,” he says. “Maybe I only have emotions in football.” [/i]
https://www.dosbods.co.uk/topic/14805-the-high-str...
He sounds a character!
[i] THIS is the story of Gary Forrest, chairman of a group of companies recently valued at £1.2bn and manager of West Auckland football club, going OK but worth a few bob less.
“We’re now aiming at £3bn by 2022,” he says, and it shouldn’t be a column, it should be a book.
He’s 50, left school at 16 – “GCSEs? Two, I think” – began working life on a job creation scheme helping lay footpaths at Jubilee Park in Spennymoor.
“In those days you didn’t just sit around on community schemes playing computer games all day,” he recalls.
Yes they did. It was 1985 ffs.
Hes building a sky scraper! Got to be legit.
Now he flies the world first class, dizzy heights for a lad with two GCSEs. The average Northern League football ground may be supposed closer to economy
What did he co between laying footpaths on a YTS at 16 and building skyscrapers? Thsts a bit of a CV hole.
“They gave me a psychometric test and it literally went off the paper. They asked if I had the ambition to own a Porsche and I said that if I had a Porsche I’d want a Ferrari and if I had a Ferrari I’d want a Lamborghini.
As I arrive he’s on the phone, “Rothschild” and “mobilising equity” mentioned in the same sentence. He’s casually dressed, welcoming, wholly affable despite that the Northern League management committee once hauled him in (as he puts it) for persistently becoming a bit too excitable while at Shildon.
“My wife calls me a robot, says I have no emotions,” he says. “Maybe I only have emotions in football.” [/i]
I'd imagine this is the tip of an iceberg, how many more 30 storey Tower blocks can Sheffield or Doncaster take.
I looked at Lendy and ran a mile but did pay £1 so as I was a lender, just to watch. I get the progress reports from the Administrators and it is depressing to see how people have been absolutely stuffed by Lendy, banks and contracts. Basically the contracts were written that despite supposedly have a charge, Lendy had a first charge. Before Christmas I recall one that never had 700k loaned against it but before costs recovered less than 1/2 and after Lendy and the Administration the creditors ( Lendy lenders) will get 150K
The only good thing is that the 2 wiseguys at Lendy have had all assets frozen including companies in the Marshall Islands , I had to look up where they were. What legitimate reason does a company doing UK only business with UK directors need to have a company for the benefit only of the directors in the Pacific.
These schemes are all the same and it needs proper sentencing if a criminal act is committed so it deters others.
I looked at Lendy and ran a mile but did pay £1 so as I was a lender, just to watch. I get the progress reports from the Administrators and it is depressing to see how people have been absolutely stuffed by Lendy, banks and contracts. Basically the contracts were written that despite supposedly have a charge, Lendy had a first charge. Before Christmas I recall one that never had 700k loaned against it but before costs recovered less than 1/2 and after Lendy and the Administration the creditors ( Lendy lenders) will get 150K
The only good thing is that the 2 wiseguys at Lendy have had all assets frozen including companies in the Marshall Islands , I had to look up where they were. What legitimate reason does a company doing UK only business with UK directors need to have a company for the benefit only of the directors in the Pacific.
These schemes are all the same and it needs proper sentencing if a criminal act is committed so it deters others.
Indeed! Marshall Islands is a flag of convenience. Just the other day TechStuff had an episode on the history of Ponzi schemes and modern crypto variants https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-techstuff-26941...
They've existed for over a century. All start with a core just-about-plausible investment concept, then find they need to rope in more and more gullibles to repay the exiting gullibles, so the lies start and the seeds of the collapse are sown.
A few months ago I made some simple projections of the Dolphin model and concluded it was doomed to blow up within 3 or 4 years once the new money ground to a halt (they were paying 'introducers' over 20% commission and promising lenders 12-14% pa).
It still gets my goat that Andrew chocolate teapot Bailey became top dog at the BoE despite his abject failure to clamp down on these scams!
They've existed for over a century. All start with a core just-about-plausible investment concept, then find they need to rope in more and more gullibles to repay the exiting gullibles, so the lies start and the seeds of the collapse are sown.
A few months ago I made some simple projections of the Dolphin model and concluded it was doomed to blow up within 3 or 4 years once the new money ground to a halt (they were paying 'introducers' over 20% commission and promising lenders 12-14% pa).
It still gets my goat that Andrew chocolate teapot Bailey became top dog at the BoE despite his abject failure to clamp down on these scams!
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff