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The Courier
3 days ago
- Business
- The Courier
Administration extended for ex-Dundee United chief Stephen Thompson's failed business
The administration of Stephen Thompson's failed convenience shop business will extend into next year. The former Dundee United chief set up Eddy's Food Station in 2022 with ambitions to grow to 50 shops and 800 staff within five years. But two years later the business entered administration, with millions of pounds of debt. Mr Thompson was subsequently made bankrupt a week before Christmas last year. Since being appointed in April last year, administrators from FRP Advisory have been working to sell the company's assets and establish the scale of the debt. The administration process was due to conclude in April but has been extended until April 24 next year. This will give administrators more time to adjudicate on creditor claims and distribute funds. Eddy's Food Station grew to have six shops – including locations in Ceres, Leuchars and Buckhaven in Fife – though just three outlets remained at the time of collapse. A new progress report from FRP shows the scale of the company's debts. A secured creditor, Nash Business Services Limited is owed £3.8m while HMRC is due £141,000 and unsecured creditors are owed around £550,000. The three remaining stores owned by the company were sold to Dundee-based CJ Lang for £1.5m a year ago. This included sums of £35,000 for stock and £110,000 for furniture and equipment. FRP expects HMRC will be repaid in full and there will be 'sufficient funds available to make a partial distribution to unsecured creditors'. In terms of the secured creditor, the new report adds that 'an issue with the security remains unresolved, and the secured creditor is assessing their options'. Mr Thompson previously told The Courier that 'no banks would speak to him' as the company failed. He highlighted spiralling energy costs as one of the reasons the business didn't work. However, FRP said the company had 'paid premiums' to secure leases as it built up its portfolio of six stores and had also incurred 'substantial' refurbishment costs. It said three sites were sold at a substantial discount. The administrator said: 'The company has struggled with high debt servicing costs and had experienced cash flow pressures caused by high investment costs and lack of profitability.' The administrators said the extent of debts in the company meant a sale as a going concern was impossible because 'the company did not have sufficient working capital to trade in the short term and insufficient assets to liquidate to satisfy creditor demands'. Mr Thompson, who sold his Dundee United shareholding in 2018, previously stated he had invested his 'total pension pot' into Eddy's Food Station. The businessman was granted sequestration – the Scottish term for the legal process of declaring someone bankrupt – on December 18. A document available at Accountant in Bankruptcy, Scotland's insolvency service, details his level of debt at £881,833. Mr Thompson announced he had filed for bankruptcy when he was a guest on BBC's Off The Ball radio show at the start of November. When asked by host Tam Cowan what he has been up to, he said: 'Well, I've kind of hit rock bottom to be honest. I actually signed a petition for bankruptcy yesterday. 'It's not a great place to be in life but it's a fresh start for me.'
Irish Daily Mirror
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Waterford 'willing to give up silverware' as 'skort' controversy rages on
The Waterford camogie team will back Cork and defy rules by wearing shorts for this weekend's Munster final. Under current rules, camogie teams are forced to wear the traditional 'skort' outfit, which is essentially a pair of shorts with extra fabric over it that makes it look like a skirt. Many players dislike the outfit, with a recent GP survey revealing that 70% of players had experienced discomfort while wearing a skort, with a staggering 83% of players stating that they would like the option of wearing shorts instead. A 2024 congress vote kept the traditional skorts in place, and under current rules, the topic cannot be voted on again until 2027. Last week, Dublin and Kilkenny staged a protest by warming up in shorts ahead of their Leinster Championship clash, but changed into skorts after being informed by the referee that as per camogie rules the game would be abandoned if they did not wear the correct kit. County boards are thought to have requested a relaxation of the rules, with a senior match taking place in Dublin earlier this week seeing both sides wear shorts. The issue is expected to come to a head this weekend when Waterford and Cork meet in the Munster final. Members of both teams issued a joint-statement confirming that they would be wearing shorts in the final. Appearing on Off The Ball on Wednesday evening, Waterford star Niamh Rockett confirmed that the Déise would be joining Cork in protest and that they were willing to sacrifice silverware in order to continue to highlight the issue. Waterford star Niamh Rockett. (Image: Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo) "We had a chat last night before training, we're of the firm belief that we will also be wearing shorts on Saturday. "I know Ashling (Thompson, Cork camogie player) mentioned that whether the game would be abandoned or they hand over the cup, it won't be an option I suppose for us as we will be standing with Cork and as a representative of all the camogie players across the country in wearing shorts on Saturday. "It was a big decision for us as Waterford have only been in two Munster finals ever in our whole history of camogie, with Saturday being the second, we've only ever had one before, and we've had one piece of silverware in the last 10 years since 2015. "So, we're willing to sacrifice that and give up the chance of getting a piece of silverware for this year in the hope that it will put pressure on the Camogie Association to make a derogation of the rule so that we can wear shorts for the rest of the Summer." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
The 42
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
'They've been great for us' - Referee Gough delivers support for FRC's new rules
LEADING GAA REFEREE David Gough has given strong support for the new rules that have revamped Gaelic football as the championship action continues, despite having previously criticised how the changes were introduced. Gough had given his thoughts on the changes brought in by the FRC when speaking to RTÉ last November and again with Newstalk's Off The Ball in January. He said he was 'horrified' at the way the rules were written and described at the time as 'astonishing' the decision to bring in 49 rule changes. But speaking yesterday as part of a panel discussion at the announcement of SuperValu's five-year sponsorship extension of the All-Ireland senior football championship, Gough revealed his backing for the rules since they have been implemented. Advertisement Gough was in charge of last Saturday's thrilling Ulster semi-final between Armagh and Tyrone, while he also last month refereed the Leinster quarter-final between Kildare and Westmeath. 'They've been great for us, once they bed in,' said the Meath official yesterday. 'I think the greatest one for us is one of the values that's based in the GAA. Respect – and the respect that's afforded to referees now on the pitch and from the sideline has increased greatly. I notice it not so much at inter-county level in that we have a great relationship (with the players) on the pitch and a good relationship with the management teams. 'But certainly for club referees around the country, they are telling us anecdotally that the enjoyment for them in refereeing and the respect that they're getting has increased significantly. 'That there's greater silence on the pitch and they're allowed make their decisions, go through the thought processes and there just seems to be a happy atmosphere among the referee cohort at the moment in relation to the respect on the field.' *****
Telegraph
20-02-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Irish arrogance is becoming hard to ignore
The elder sages of Ireland's rugby media have gallantly been trying to clear up the mess. Ever since an appalling social media segment cut from an Off The Ball broadcast last week travelled down that viral U-bend into the sewers of our consciousness, a number of their press corps, who actually can be admired, have gone public in their disdain for the content. Why not simply ignore the juvenile twaddle and swat it away into irrelevance with the derision it required? The suspicion here is because the grown-ups in the room know that the shameless audience-baiting appeared at exactly the wrong time with the national team on the cusp of Six Nations history and rugby in the country being far too widely depicted as arrogant as it swaggers. If the digital radio show Off The Ball has indeed written Wales's team-talk for their daunting task in Cardiff on Saturday, then they might also have unwittingly underlined the visiting Blarney Army's growing status as being insufferably superior. Mud sticks. Especially when it happens to be this green and putrid. If you have not yet watched the clip, then it is worth doing so, if only to remind of the belittling power of banter. "Would a thirteen-man-Ireland beat Wales...? "12... now it's a game!" How bad/hampered would Ireland have to be to lose against #Wales...? | 🏴🇮🇪 OTB Breakfast w/ @Team_Optimum | #UnlockMoreYou #SixNations | #WelshRugby | #IrishRugby | #WRU — Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 11, 2025 The station controllers were presumably delighted, as the snippet was promoted on its social channels. It soon reached the Welsh and naturally they reacted. The most obvious refrain was, 'unless you were playing us in a World Cup quarter-final'. And thus, the hits proceeded to rack up. Ireland however, received nothing out of it but the bolstering of a perception that does their heroes no favours. A senseless sneering snippet placed on top of an ever-expanding charge sheet of conceit. 'Collective contempt is not a pretty look' Of course, OTB does not represent rugby on the island, and fair dues to those writers experienced enough to remember when they were the Championship whipping boys and for quickly pointing this out. Alas, the stench of cockiness lingers ever more strongly and there seems an emerging fear that during the rise into the game's elite echelons a former reputation has been sacrificed. Collective contempt is not a pretty look, especially among a fanbase who previously added so much genuine humour and bonhomie to the occasion. A friend of mine was struck by this when attending the World Cup in Paris five months ago. 'As soon as Ireland scored against us early, this green-shirted, red-faced idiot who was sat next to me turned and asked, 'So what's your plan B?'', he said. 'I wish that he was only in a tiny minority, but as a Scotland fan I thought the unadulterated confidence of the Irish fans was completely overbearing and far, far greater than in previous years. They were right, of course, but it was deeply unattractive and at odds with the cliched view of traditional Irish charm. There was a total absence of humility.' Call it sour leeks if you must, but here in the Welsh capital this is one of several anecdotes I have heard about the changing complexion of the once almost unanimously affable nature of the Irish fan. Meanwhile a smugness is more than hinted at with a mere peek in this month's output from sections of their media. One correspondent bemoaned last week 'if ever a game didn't need a two-week build up it's this one… a two-week build-up for a foregone conclusion'. The Saturday before, another member of the Gaelic 'Stay-Classy' Brigade, mercilessly kicked the Scottish when they were down. 'The Flower of Scotland wilted like an Irish Wolfhound had cocked his leg against it,' they wrote. So that is where the imagery has now reached – to a dog urinating over a thistle, nice. At the very least, should the gloating not be reined in somewhat? It is little wonder that some of their modest colleagues wince. 'Incredibly embarrassing,' said one, who understandably wished to remain anonymous. 'Some of it is cringe-making. Don't they appreciate where Irish rugby came from and the foundations upon which it was built?' In fairness, they must have become accustomed to very little else but achievement for provinces and for country (World Cup, apart) and would find the days of the Jolly Green Giants as anathema. That was when the Championship was fun, but now it is a business and Ireland are gloriously in the business of winning. Confidence fosters expectation, that expectation breeds an edge and, unchecked, it can then give birth to the haughty and unseemly. 'You can never be arrogant in this game' However, we are assured that there is no trace of complacency on behalf of the squad itself, and when one looks at the humble make-up of head coach Andy Farrell and his temporary stand-in, Simon Easterby, it is all too easy to concur. Yet then you listen to the likes of Springbok Eben Etzebeth who expressed 'shock' at Ireland's attitude during – and sorry to keep repeating the name of the competition - the 2023 World Cup and you do wonder. 'After the game, you shake the guys' hands, and 12 out of the 23, when I shook their hand, they told me 'See you guys in the final,'' Etzebeth claimed. 'I thought, 'Are these guys seriously not even thinking about the All Blacks in [the World Cup quarter-final], playing against them?'' He went on 'Obviously, it's good to be confident but you can never be arrogant in this game.' Was this a lesson learned or ignored? He is not alone in recognising swelling chests and bulging heads. There have been ample examples of hubris from the freshly retired. Does this ring any bells? 'In order for England to win, Ireland have to go down to like 14 or 13 players.' Jamie Heaslip, the former back-rower, uttered that statement 12 months ago before England went on to beat them. The chance of Wales doing the same is infinitesimal and as 1-100 favourites perhaps this unwavering mindset is the way it has to be, as the support meets the challenge of embracing the abundance of self-belief. But to allow the ego to overload invariably comes at a price and those 'absence-of-humility' accusations can hurt and will accumulate, no matter how vehemently the Irish chroniclers who do know better rail against a slur they legitimately believe has no place in a proud rugby legacy.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Trent Alexander-Arnold told to 'be a man' as Liverpool legend demands answers
Trent Alexander-Arnold has returned from injury, and Liverpool will hope he can play a significant role in navigating a potentially defining run of fixtures. But amid continued speculation away from the pitch, a club legend has told him he needs to step up and "be a man". The contract situation has been a constant asterisk on the success in Arne Slot's debut season. Every good Alexander-Arnold performance has been a reminder that he could walk away for nothing in the summer, while Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have been providing even more frequent on-pitch prompts about the importance of settling their respective futures. Rebuillding without any of them would present Slot with a Herculean task in his second season. But his focus for the time being will be on ending his first Anfield campaign with silverware. READ MORE: Curtis Jones breaks silence with Liverpool message after red card against Everton READ MORE: What Curtis Jones said to Abdoulaye Doucoure to spark Liverpool brawl with Everton That, however, requires total focus. And while Salah and Van Dijk have repeatedly obliged reporters with updates about their contracts, before quickly pushing the emphasis back onto the football, Alexander-Arnold has essentially said nothing at all. The one thing he has said is that all of his previous contract extensions have played out in private, and that these negotiations will be no different. But while it might come from a place of respect for Liverpool, the radio silence amid overtures from Real Madrid is turning his situation into even more of a circus. Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson has called on Alexander-Arnold to be honest about his plans. He believes it would be in everyone's best interests: "Trent's going, isn't he?" mused Lawrenson on the Off The Ball podcast. "To be honest with you, if he is, I'd like him to actually say "by the way, I'm going to play until the end of the season, and then I'm going to look elsewhere." "And you know what, Liverpool fans would go "great." He's won everything. "But this thing about not saying anything, I really really don't get it. Just stand up, be a man, and say "look, this has been absolutely fab and I've loved every single minute of it, I'm a local boy but I'm going to go somewhere else." And you know what, good luck to you." Of course, this all assumes that Alexander-Arnold has already made up his mind. It may be the case that he is still making his decision, in which case he is not in a position to make any such proclamation. But even an admission from Alexander-Arnold that he is still weighing up his options would be welcome at this point. By making Lawrenson and others guess at his intentions, he is opening himself up to theories like the one put forward by the former Match of the Day pundit. Having said that, it's impossible to approve of the "be a man" sentiment, which feels a little clunky and outdated. Additionally, Lawrenson is surely being optimistic with his prediction of how Liverpool fans would react. In the cold light of day, it is possible to understand why Alexander-Arnold might want to experience a new challenge at Real Madrid, having achieved everything possible at his boyhood club. But supporters will still wonder whether he might have considered signing a new deal, at least allowing his beloved Liverpool to bank a transfer fee. Realistically, the Real Madrid opportunity may not even be there without the fact that Alexander-Arnold will be a free agent, and he is well within his rights to flex his player power to engineer his next move. But his farewell would not be without a trace of bitterness. Signing off with another Premier League title, however, would certainly soften the blow. Regardless of how he chooses to conduct himself in the media, Alexander-Arnold must make sure he steps up where it really counts between now and the end of the campaign.
