140 replies to this topic

[Cooperman]

Directors loans are just that. They represent the cash or personal assets a director has put into a company and not taken out again.
Since the debts exceed the assets by around £125000 it's unlikely the directors will get their loans repaid. Directors loans can include salary which has had tax and NI paid, but which was left in the company. Owed salaries are different. It's not unusual in a small company for a director to actually put cash or assets in and record them as directors loans.
The directors, in such cases, are non-preferential creditors as are all ordinary creditors.
If you have left your own property with a liquidated company for that company to do work on, you still own that property, but must pay for any work done, so long as the liquidator can prove the value of that work. This can be difficult as the liquidator can't give any warranty or establish the work was done in accordance with the agreed contract.

[Frisco]

to be honest it just seems like your stoking the fire.

If MRA are still trading under whatever company and you were considering giving your car to them wouldn't you rather know that other owners have lost money with them?
I know I would

yes but as he pointed out all he did was start this topic, hasnt contributed anything himself (of any real significance), and has just left it to everyone else.
i could do that and im not involved in anyway.

I say thanks for starting the thread, thats enough imo. I dont care what involvement the op has in the situation. If he is owed money I hope he gets it back.

Edited by Frisco, 18 November 2011 - 11:52 PM.

[ShoutforJoy]

If you have left your own property with a liquidated company for that company to do work on, you still own that property, but must pay for any work done, so long as the liquidator can prove the value of that work. This can be difficult as the liquidator can't give any warranty or establish the work was done in accordance with the agreed contract.

This is the situation that I find myself in. But as far as I know I am not listed as a debtor of MRA Engineering. The book debts listed amount to £500, the work that I had contracted MRA to do was about 3 times that. When Martin called he assured me that the work would still be carried out and guaranteed in accordance with our agreed contract (except the timescales obviously).

All of this is costing me money and hassle though as the Mini is our second car and we are having to use public transport and occasionally hire cars to cover the gap. Could be worse though, I don't think I stand to lose as much as Rick.spi and MK-John.

Edited by ShoutforJoy, 19 November 2011 - 12:08 AM.

[Cooperman]

If the work hasn't started the liquidator can have no claim on you or your property. In that case you can contract with Martin to still do the work so long as you are both happy for him to do so. It will be, effectively, a new contract and nothing to do with the 'Old MRA'.

[ShoutforJoy]

If the work hasn't started the liquidator can have no claim on you or your property. In that case you can contract with Martin to still do the work so long as you are both happy for him to do so. It will be, effectively, a new contract and nothing to do with the 'Old MRA'.

That's the thing. According to the update I had on 1 October, the work had started, and the transmission had been stripped and examined. I did email the liquidator to see how I stand but have had no response.

[Shifty]

To the best of my knowledge all of MRAs customer commitments are being met.

All I can is ask that if you've got a query of an issue contact eitherr myself or martin and i'll do what I can to help you sort it out.

In the case of this thread starter I have no info to go on and he's not supplied me with any info so my hands are tied.

I'm not prepared to let this thread turn into a *******-fest without facts.

Shout for joy contacted me and TMF and myself are working with him to help. Thats the correct way to go about this. If this route fails then by all mean feel free to start threads like this.

I still haven't seen any actual facts by the poster and would welcome the oportunity to examine and discuss the info he has.

[MiniLuke]

I think people are forgetting that Martin has lost a lot as a result of this. He is a regular contributor to this site and often gave valuable help and advice.... for free.

If he has these experienced problems, and you personally have found his services to be top notch, then perhaps as a community we should be supporting him and not publically making it very difficult to get back on his feet. Whatever guise his new venture takes, I am sure he will personally make good on any promises he has made. It is unfortunate some people have work with him at the moment, but that is inevitable. I am sure he will protect peoples property.

I would think it's very difficult for him to continue this work during the liquidation process, and chasing and contacting the liquidator could make it more difficult for him to honour any personal assurances he has given.

Give the guy a fair chance to get back on his feet. All he has tried to do is make a living out of something he loves doing and passionate about, not to mention very good at.

Every business will have instances of jobs going wrong, but airing them here is not the place, I am sure he would rather have the opportunity to make good on them when he can.

I'll continue to support Martin.

Edited by MiniLuke, 19 November 2011 - 09:34 AM.

[charliedurrant]

I think people are forgetting that Martin has lost a lot as a result of this. He is a regular contributor to this site and often gave valuable help and advice.... for free.

If he has these experienced problems, and you personally have found his services to be top notch, then perhaps as a community we should be supporting him and not publically making it very difficult to get back on his feet. Whatever guise his new venture takes, I am sure he will personally make good on any promises he has made. It is unfortunate some people have work with him at the moment, but that is inevitable. I am sure he will protect peoples property.

I would think it's very difficult for him to continue this work during the liquidation process, and chasing and contacting the liquidator could make it more difficult for him to honour any personal assurances he has given.

Give the guy a fair chance to get back on his feet. All he has tried to do is make a living out of something he loves doing and passionate about, not to mention very good at.

Every business will have instances of jobs going wrong, but airing them here is not the place, I am sure he would rather have the opportunity to make good on them when he can.

I'll continue to support Martin.

I think this is an excellent post. Running a business is at times horrible and the figures presented in a previous post show that there is some serious investment lost. That does not take anything away from individual cases but when the pot runs dry (and you can be close to that situation many times) you have to say 'I'm out'.

My personal dealings with Martin were very amicable and as I have mentioned in another post elsewhere things can just go bad no matter how good the company. I suppose the only aspect to keep in the back of your head is to pay with a credit card.

Charlie

[joakwin]

wow this is crazy, martin has always been good to me

[stardude]

I think people are forgetting that Martin has lost a lot as a result of this. He is a regular contributor to this site and often gave valuable help and advice.... for free.

If he has these experienced problems, and you personally have found his services to be top notch, then perhaps as a community we should be supporting him and not publically making it very difficult to get back on his feet. Whatever guise his new venture takes, I am sure he will personally make good on any promises he has made. It is unfortunate some people have work with him at the moment, but that is inevitable. I am sure he will protect peoples property.

I would think it's very difficult for him to continue this work during the liquidation process, and chasing and contacting the liquidator could make it more difficult for him to honour any personal assurances he has given.

Give the guy a fair chance to get back on his feet. All he has tried to do is make a living out of something he loves doing and passionate about, not to mention very good at.

Every business will have instances of jobs going wrong, but airing them here is not the place, I am sure he would rather have the opportunity to make good on them when he can.

I'll continue to support Martin.

As will I

[Cooperman]

He has indeed contributed a lot to this forum and to Mini owners in general.
Let's give him all the support we can.

[Carlos W]

I agree, ok he has made mistakes but with the economy the way it is running a business isn't easy! And the more places like this that fail, the more expensive services will become!

[minidaves]

Its is tough running a business, and to be honest its all about doing everything you can do to make it work, but these days and that kinda debt it aint going to work.

[Yoda]

My thoughts also are with supporting Martin. I went through a similar situation a few years ago, but luckily, i never had to let anyone down and managed to close the company before liquidation became inevitable. I was one of the lucky ones during the recession, but my dream was lost along with a lot of personal investment.

I found it very hard to cope with it all but have pulled through and not lost any friends and or business acquaintances so please put yourself in Martins shoes for a few minutes and try to imagine what he is going through right now.

The biggest worry in this situation (as a genuine trader) is your customers. Martin is obviously trying to honour his commitments but it will take time. I know some of you fear losing hard earned cash, but I am sure martin will do his best to see you right in the end.

To live and work your dream is an immense undertaking and sadly sometimes, outside circumstances can pull it away from you. It takes a brave person to admit failure but still try to keep everyone happy.

I mean no offence to anyone here. just please trying to get some understanding of how hard it can be running your own business. But i would still do it again if i had the funding.

[Artful Dodger]

how can i contact martin?? i need to contact him about a private selling, bad timing aswell, sent him moneys on sunday, company went into liquidation on monday.