The man on left is Paul Kemsley.
Apart from being mates with Sir Philip Green and ‘Magpie’ Mike Ashley, this wannabe property magnate he is probably best known for his appearances on the Apprentice as one of Surallun Sugar’s guest interogators. But somehow we don’t think he will be grilling contestants on Wednesday night’s edition (21.00hrs, BBC1).
From Property Week.
Paul Kemsley’s Rock Investment has gone into administration.
PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed as the administrator on Thursday last week. Rock’s assets include the former Burberry HQ on Haymarket, Selhurst Park football ground – the home of Crystal Palace – in London as well as a number of assets in the US including offices on Fifth Avenue in New York.
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Kemsley had a long-term relationship with Bank of Scotland’s corporate arm. Their £500m joint venture bought a number of properties in the UK and US during 2007 and 2008.
Peter Spratt, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and joint administrator, said:
‘Following the well documented slowdown in the property market, the Rock board has re-evaluated its longer term strategy and, after discussions with its lenders, has taken the difficult decision to place the company in administration.
‘Our immediate priority will be to review the existing strategic approach, explore all options for the company and to develop an effective long-term strategy for the business. During this process, we will work with the company’s stakeholders and employees and would like to reassure the existing tenants of the properties that this process will have no impact on them.
But this is not the end of Kemsley’s problems. As the Guardian reported a couple of weeks ago, Kemsley is the subject of a legal wrangle with spread betting company Spreadex.
The dispute between the two is over a £2m “margin security” to cover losses suffered on a series of spread bets. Spreadex made an application to the high court to get a summary judgment without the need for a full trial. That was rejected last Wednesday on the grounds that “there was a direct conflict of evidence which would … be inappropriate for the court to resolve on a summary judgment”. Spreadex was given leave to appeal, and costs settlements have been deferred until a full hearing.
And what had Kemsley been punting on?
It was a brave call. In the week before Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, Paul Kemsley, one of the property world’s most colourful figures, placed a series of bets, each worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, that shares in the doomed US financial giant would recover.
Paul Kemsley, the founder of the business, no longer has any interest in the Rock Group or the Group’s assets in the UK or in the US .
Surely, not even one of the Apprentices would have done that. You know what follows next.
Kemsley – You’re fired.
Related links:
That Paul Kemsley, Philip Green and Mike Ashley pic… - FT Alphaville
Cassetteboy vs. The Bloody Apprentice – YouTube.