Metal merchant’s prized motors driven into online auction

LUXURY cars and watches are going under the hammer after a Yorkshire scrap metal merchant that sponsored one of the region’s top rugby clubs went bust with debts of £22m.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Nov 2013, 00:01 BST

A McClaren MP4 supercar, two Porsches and two Range Rovers are among the assets of Ossett-based Eric France Metals being auctioned online by property consultants Sanderson Weatherall on behalf of joint liquidators KPMG and PWC.

The cars are expected to fetch about £300,000 while the four watches, including two Rolexes, plus a luxury Vertu Constellation mobile phone could realise between £15,000 and £20,000.

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The scrap merchant, which sponsored Super League side Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, entered into voluntary creditors’ liquidation in February.

A statement of affairs showed £21m of its total £22m debt related to unpaid VAT.

The firm previously hit the headlines in 2011 when the Advertising Standards Agency ruled its controversial billboard and bus poster campaign, featuring photos of scantily-clad women, was degrading to women with no relevance to the advertised product.

The online auction will go live at www.bidspotter.co.uk next Tuesday and bidding will close at noon on November 22. Viewing will be by appointment only at various locations in West Yorkshire on November 18 and 19.

Related topics:YorkshireKPMGOssett