AN investment company which this week alleged it faces significant losses following the collapse of pub chain Maclay Group has been criticised by shareholders for its "disappointing" performance.
A major investor in Thistle Pub Company II, whose properties had been run by a Maclay subsidiary under a management contract until August, said shareholders have lost 30 per cent of their initial investments.
Thistle II is understood to have hundreds of investors, who have invested sums ranging from £500 to a maximum of £150,000 in the company.
The "dissident shareholder", who declined to be named, said: "The trading performance of Thistle II has proved to be bitterly disappointing.
"Shareholders have already lost more than 30 per cent of their initial investments, and the Board does not appear to have a feasible strategy to recover the situation."
The dissatisfaction with Thistle II's performance came after its chairman, Roy Summers, wrote to shareholders on Tuesday claiming the collapsed Maclay Group owes it £150,000.
It alleges the monies, identified following an investigation by external auditors, stem from accounting errors and other actions on the part of Maclay. Now Maclay is in administration Mr Summers said it is unlikely that the full £150,000 will be recovered.
Thistle II was set up by Maclay Group under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) of 2005/06. It offered investors a tax efficient form of investment, with the funds raised used for Maclay to buy pubs. Maclay then took a fee for running the pubs under a management contract.
Thistle II owns four freehold pubs which are now run by LT Management Services, which took over the contract from Maclay Inns, a subsidiary of Maclay Group, in August.
Alan Stewart, a director of Thistle II, declined to comment on the company's performance, beyond noting that its accounts and financial statements are available to view on its website.
The most recently available accounts for Thistle II show that it made a pre-tax profit of £262,107 in the year ended September 28, 2013. That followed a loss of £398,610 in 2012, which was put down to a property impairment charge of £559,291.
The letter sent to shareholders this week states that it is trading profitably with net debt of £0.3m in relation to assets of £4.5m.
Mr Summers said in the letter that the publication of the company's accounts for the year ended September 27 2014 have been "delayed as a result of our ongoing investigations".
He said: "These will now be sent to shareholders in late February with a formal notice to convene an AGM (which is provisionally scheduled for 19th March 2015)."
Another EIS scheme set up by Maclay Group, Thistle Pub Company III, alleged this week that Maclay owes it £330,000 further to a separate investigation. Mr Stewart, who chairs Thistle III, said in a letter to shareholders: "This has been the subject of investigation by us as the creation of the debt between the companies was not authorised."
Thistle III owns seven freehold pubs, including the Clockwork Beer Company in Glasgow, the management contract for which transferred to LT Management Services from Maclay Inns on January 23 - the day Maclay Group entered administration.
The Herald understands that around 150 investors have invested a total of £7.5m in Thistle III.
If the debt claimed to be owed by Maclay is not settled it could result in investors facing a loss of 4.5p per share.
The latest accounts for Thistle III have also been delayed as a result of its investigations.
Meanwhile, efforts are continuing to find a buyer for Maclay Group. The company, which has a owns 15 pubs and runs a small portfolio in a joint venture with C&C Group, appointed administrators at Ernst & Young after facing an "unexpected funding requirement".
EY said its investigation into assessing the financial position of Maclay, which employs around 500 staff, is still in its early stages.
Mr Stewart said he is confident there will be no shortage of interested parties. He said: "These are good, popular units, Maclay is reasonably profitable. I would have thought there is very opportunity for people to pick up good units at a reasonable price."
He added: "I fully expect that most of the jobs of the 500 staff will be safe."
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