Blackfriar: Fairness goes out of the window when it comes to survival

But the determination of WYG to avoid joining that list was recognised when 95 per cent of shareholders backed its restructuring plans yesterday.

Shareholders were left with little to choose from: either accept that their stakes would be diluted to 15 per cent of their original value by backing the debt-for-equity swap, or be left with nothing by voting against the restructuring plans, thus forcing it into administration.

WYG, formerly known as White Young Green, entered the recession with a heavy debt millstone around its neck, courtesy of previous management's ambitious acquisition policy. When the economies of Ireland and the UK began to crumble, it found itself over-exposed and over-leveraged.

Blackfriar believes new management, who deliberated long and hard before coming up with the D4E swap, deserve credit for giving the company and its 2,700 employees a viable future.

Management claim the 60.5 per cent handed to banks, plus the 24.5 per cent going into an employee share benefit trust, is the "right option for all involved".

Right, perhaps, but not necessarily fair – investors are the biggest losers in this. But when a business's back is against the wall, as WYG's undoubtedly was, fairness goes out of the window.

Shareholders in Halifax-based construction products group Heywood Williams were left with nothing last year when investor Paul Bell voted his 27 per cent against a debt-for-equity swap, forcing the company into a pre-pack administration.

But shareholders in WYG took a pragmatic view of the situation and voted in favour. After all, a little of something is better than nothing.

WYG's recovery will take time, and investors will need convincing to buy back into WYG.

The company, whose three-pronged strategy

includes "internationalisation", needs to deliver hard proof of growing revenues across the globe if it is to win back support.

But chief executive Paul Hamer, whose hard-headed approach appears to have won some support in the City, is convinced the company can start delivering shareholder value over the next three to five years.

A new future awaits WYG. Blackfriar believes the fact that it has lived to tell the tale is an achievement in itself.

Blackfriar will have a wager with anyone who would like to take him on: This time next year Marks & Spencer won't be saying sales growth was less than it could have been because loyal staff were given the day off on Boxing Day.

Why? Because M&S won't give staff the day off on Boxing Day.

Once new broom Marc Bolland comes in this nice, but loss-making gesture, is likely to go out of the window.

Bolland may be suave and debonair, but first and foremost he will want to make his mark at M&S and that will mean improving the bottom line.

It's what he does best and it's why he has been so successful during his three years heading up Bradford-based Morrisons.

Yesterday M&S said like-for-like sales at UK stores rose by 0.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to December 26, below forecasts of a 1.2 per cent increase and underperforming both John Lewis and Next.

But they would have been considerably higher if M&S had broken with tradition and opened up on Boxing Day like most other food retailers.

Despite the impact of the Boxing Day closure on M&S's trading figures, chairman Sir Stuart Rose said the firm had no plans to open on Boxing Day next year.

He might not have any plans to at the moment, but Blackfriar will eat his cowl if this quaint tradition is maintained.