Minister in call for answers over collapse of Premier Motor

A Government Minister has written to the heads of Lloyds Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) urging them to answer questions posed by a Labour MP about the collapse of a Yorkshire company.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Mar 2014, 00:00 BST
Nick Clegg with Jenny WillottNick Clegg with Jenny Willott
Nick Clegg with Jenny Willott

Jenny Willott, the Minister for Employment Relations, has written to Antonio Horta-Osorio, group chief executive of Lloyds, “to urge the bank to respond on all outstanding matters” in relation to the case of Premier Motor Auctions. Ms Willott has also written to Ian Powell, the chairman of PwC, “on similar terms” to the letter sent to Mr Horta-Osorio.

Austin Mitchell, the MP for Great Grimsby, has called for a probe into the conduct of Lloyds Bank and PwC in connection with Leeds-based Premier Motor Auctions. Premier Motor Auctions was sold out of administration by PwC to Scottish Motor Auctions in 2008, with Lloyds retaining 50 per cent ownership.

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Keith Elliott, who was the owner of Premier Motor Auctions before it went into administration, contacted regulators to complain about how the sales process had been handled. Both PwC and Lloyds deny any wrongdoing, and said the case has been investigated by financial regulators who concluded there was no case to answer.

A spokesman for Lloyds said: “While we will not set out the detail of private correspondence with a Government minister we can confirm that we have responded to their enquiry and they had no further questions. To date no one has uncovered anything to support Mr Elliott’s allegations against the bank.”

Related topics:PricewaterhouseCoopersLabour