British firm JD Classics, a dealer of classic cars but also an expert restorer and organizer of classic racing events, entered administration last Friday. This is the UK equivalent process to entering bankruptcy protection here in the US. And yes, this is the same JD Classics firm the only just a few months ago hired as its CEO former Lotus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales.
On the company’s website there is the following notice:
Richard Beard, Mark Firmin and Richard Fleming were appointed Joint Administrators of JD Classics Holdings Limited on 7 September 2018, and JD Classics Limited and Daytona Bidco Limited on 10 September 2018 (together “the Companies”). The business and property of the Companies are being managed by the Joint Administrators who, together with their staff, act as agents of the Companies and contract without personal liability.
According to reports, the administrators are seeking a buyer though may have to end up selling assets to recover funds for lenders, key among which is thought to be Lloyds Bank.
It isn’t clear where JD Classics ran into trouble but in a sale document seen by Sky News in August, Alvarez & Marsal mentioned the discovery of “financial irregularities” and an ongoing “investigation into these matters.”
For the moment at least, operations seem to be continuing as normal at the company. They were, in fact, just at the 2018 Goodwood Revival with the Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar XK120 of Steve Ward.
Former CEO and founder of JD Classics Derek Hood, who is no longer with the company, was sued by a customer earlier this year and in April received a judgement of “deliberate and dishonest conduct” in his dealings with the customer.
JD Classics has showrooms in Mayfair and Maldon in the UK. They also have a partnership with Miles Morris and Malcolm Welford in the USA. Operating under the ‘Morris and Welford’ this showroom is in Newport Beach, California and features a collection of rare and important road and racing cars as well as an in-house photographic studio. It is unclear what effect, if any, this will have on the US partnership.