OwnerShips finally sinks

FOLLOWING an announcement some four months ago, a petition to appoint a Receiver has finally been submitted to the courts to deal with the winding up of OwnerShips Ltd.

The reason given for winding up, as previously reported in narrowboatworld, was that deceased founder and managing director, Allen Mathews, (pictured) had 'systematically taken money from hundreds of owners on the pretence of the money being held on deposit, in the region of £1.8 million pounds', writes Allan Richards.

According to OwnerShips, the delay was caused by advice suggesting that the prior sale of the company's office would be beneficial. However, following a number of aborted attempts to sell off its London office a decision has been made to proceed rather than delay further.

Letter to owners

In a recent letter to its customers, OwnerShips' Anthony Trueman, assured that all correspondence received since its announcement had been passed to its solicitors Bright LLP for the eventual attention of the Receiver. OwnerShips is also recommending that, in future, correspondence is directed to Official Receiver's Office in Mayflower St, Plymouth.

The letter also pays tribute to Joan Lindeman who inherited the company on Allen Mathews death and follows with 'Joan would like to take this final opportunity to express her regret to all those of you who have suffered losses in this situation, her sadness that we are where we are and her gratitude to so many people who have done so much over the years and who have given support over the last six months.'