The Business
Secretary Vince Cable has today responded to the Lloyds Banking
Group statement on their decision to make an ex-gratia payment of
£8 million for Farepak’s former customers. Dr Cable wrote to
Lloyds on 28 June asking for their views on the comments made
about the bank by Justice Peter Smith. Lloyds Banking Group has
today responded.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
"The result of the legal proceedings case against
the former directors was disappointing but this increased
compensation will go some way in helping those who were left
considerably out of pocket by Farepak’s collapse. My department
and Lloyds will work to make sure this money gets to the victims
as quickly as possible. I will be meeting a group of
Farepak's creditors and MPs next week to discuss the case."
Notes to editors: 1. Farepak Food & Gifts Ltd and
European Home Retail (EHR) plc went into administration on 13
October 2006. EHR went into liquidation on 21 February 2007 and
Farepak went into liquidation on 4 October 2007. Following an
investigation, disqualification proceedings commenced on 26
January 2011 against nine directors. Two directors offered
undertakings later that year. The disqualification hearing started
at the High Court on 24 May 2012 and the Secretary of State
discontinued proceedings on 20 June 2012.
2. HBOS plc, which provided banking services to EHR plc,
holding group of Farepak, before it went into administration and
liquidation, is a banking and insurance company in the United
Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group
since January 2009.
3. The Government's economic policy objective is to
achieve 'strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is
more evenly shared across the country and between
industries.' It set four ambitions in the ‘Plan for
Growth’ (PDF 1.7MB) , published at Budget 2011:
· To create the most competitive tax system in the G20
· To make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and
grow a business
· To encourage investment and exports as a route to a more
balanced economy
· To create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible
in Europe.
4. Work is underway across Government to achieve these
ambitions, including progress on more than 250 measures as part of
the Growth Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new
impetus to this work by providing businesses, investors and the
public with more clarity about the long-term direction in which
the Government wants the economy to travel.
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