A missing BMW belonging to failed Nottinghamshire fit out firm Paragon Interiors has been recovered by administrators and sold at auction. The firm, which was set up by former Notts County owner Alan Hardy, went into administration back in February 2019, with all staff being made redundant - 90 jobs were lost as a result.
Estimated preferential claims totalled £195,385, while uninsured creditors were found to have estimated claims above £13 million. The company eventually settled its debts for £1.2m. In a statement by the liquidators of the company released on April 27, 2022, it was revealed that a motor vehicle - a BMW - had been reported to the police as missing and possibly stolen during the administration process.
This BMW has now been found and sold at auction. The report states: "As previously reported a vehicle, a BMW, had been reported to the police as missing, possibly stolen. During the period of this report, the BMW has been located, collected and sold at auction by our agent, Auctus Ltd. The gross proceeds of the auction sale of the BMW, was £1,450 plus VAT in sales commission, £166 plus VAT in preparation, porterage, catalogues and advertising, and incurred disbersements of £850 per VAT."
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It added that there are no further assets left to realise from the company. A report on the liquidators' statement of receipts and payments issued on April 29 last year showed a vehicle from the company had been reported to the police as "stolen/missing."
It said: "A vehicle was previously identified as not delivered upon appointment. Further inquiries have been made with the directors, who have been unable to provide information on the vehicle's location. The police have been informed of this missing vehicle being missing/stolen and have not located the vehicle to date."
Mr Hardy went on to sell Notts County to Christoffer and Alexander Reedtz, the owners of football statistics firm Football Radar. He told Press Association Sport back in 2019: "It's only one person's fault - I write the cheques here. I accept I'm the master of my own downfall.
"There's an idea in business about the importance of watching the dance from the balcony. I have always liked to take part in the dance and watch from the balcony. I did that at my company Paragon. I got my hard hat on, mixed with the troops, met customers, but I also directed from the boardroom. That's the bit I got wrong here.
"I was hungry, I was ambitious, I got seduced by my schoolboy dream of being involved in football and the mistake I made was forgetting my business principles." Mr Hardy, who took over at Notts County back in 2017, remains the owner of the Nottinghamshire Golf and Country Club in Cotgrave.
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