Hi All,
Can't say that I'm too surprised to read this report; I thank Ian Rickard
for distilling it down to its regrettable essence.
On 9/12/04 I wrote in part:
> Just how the new company chooses to balance the challenging equation of the
> goodwill of their customer base, their legal obligations, and their
> available resources remains to be seen and will, no doubt, influence the
> prospects for success of the new company.
After reading Ian's abstract of the report, it doesn't seem like there's any
blood left in that turnip.
And as Tony K. points out,
> As with any company ceasing to trade and having its assets purchased by
> a new company, the new company has no responsibility for the losses of
> the previous company. This has been a business principal in most western
> countries for many years.
I've had no illusions...notwithstanding the several straight up guys in the
old company...that I've been dealing with a corporation, and I've never
dreamed that any one of those guys would personally take on the obligations
of the corporation; after all, the essence of the corporate world is to
shield individuals from such obligations.
On the other hand, if fraud has occurred...and determining that is the work
of a sleuthful UK solicitor...an individual creditor may find some relief.
I'd be hardpressed not to hire someone to do some digging for me if I was
out say $15 - $30K. But if the UK is anything like the US, you can throw a
lot of money at a lawsuit and, even when you prevail, end up with nothing
more than an uncollectible judgement.
Perhaps...collectively...we could get a legal opinion on the issue of fraud?
What if those of us who are owed parts (and I am one of them) or entire kits
put say 5% of the value owed into a kitty to fund such an opinion?
The underlying assumption of a bankruptcy proceeeding is of course that
there is some societal benefit to have a legal process which allows new
ownership of a failed enterprise to carry on without the previous debt load;
and in this case, it is the Europa community of pilots and builders which
benefits from this process...notwithstanding the regrettable losses of
individual builders.
I for one support the new company whose success is essential unless I were
willing for the Europa design to become a footnote in the history of
kitplanes; the Europa is just too good of a design to let that happen. If I
were the owner of the new company, my efforts would be focused on
reconstituting my supply chain and marketing efforts to new buyers; these
are the "make or break" issues to make the new company viable. Sad to say,
only then would I attempt to address the un-met obligations to customers of
the old company.
I say all of this against my personal experience of buying a kitplane (a
Q-200) just prior to the company (Quickie Aircraft) going belly-up; though I
have all the airframe parts (to an admittedly quirky design), I've never
proceeded to build it because, among other reasons, there was no longer a
company to support the design.
Fred
A194
|