Former MG Rover workers living in Bromsgrove could be in line for cash left on the books of a car-leasing business linked to the collapsed company.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Business Secretary Peter Mandelson is being urged to take control of a £22m dowry left on the books of the defunct MG Rover business, and distribute it among thousands of former car workers.
The paper reported, on August 30, that the cash had come from a car-leasing business linked to the collapsed company called MGR Capital, which was co-owned by state-controlled bank HBOS and some of the original MG Rover directors.
MGR Capital was wound up last year, with £22m in cash remaining on its books. The Telegraph said it had been expected that the money be divided between former shareholders, HBOS and two former MG Rover directors, Peter Beale and John Edwards.
However, all of the cash has in fact been handed to HBOS. Bromsgrove MP Julie Kirkbride says she is urging the secretary to distribute the cash among some of the former Rover workers, who lost their jobs when MG Rover collapsed in May 2005.
She said: “Everyone believes this money likely belongs to Rover workers as these assets should not have been taken out of the company. The money, therefore, should either be used to pay Rover workers pensions or eventually be distributed to Rover workers. I shall be writing to business secretary Peter Mandelson to ask what he will do to ensure justice is done.”
It is unclear whether the Business Secretary can intervene, as HBOS is still trading as a commercial company.