The financial mishaps of former Bury owner Stewart Day have led to the collapse of the peer-to-peer lending platform ‘Lendy’.
Poorly executed property development schemes, led by former Bury chairman Stewart Day, accounted for more than a fifth of money owed to investors in the lending company ‘Lendy’, according to The Financial Times.
The lending platform offered investors the opportunity of a 12% return on their initial cash input. The company failed in May after it extended £27 million worth of loans to companies controlled by Day. The loans were related to the building of student flats in Bradford, Huddersfield, Cardiff and Glasgow; these companies have since gone into administration.
Mr Day oversaw £8.3 million worth of losses whilst in charge of the Lancashire club and his company, Mederco, was one of the key creditors in the story of their financial woes. It looked as if Bury may be liquidated, though they managed to stave off this disastrous outcome (via a CVA) last week.
Mr Day was reliant on other, similar lenders to fund Bury FC. It has also been revealed that a Liverpool-based company called ‘Capital Bridging Finance Solutions’ holds a £1.6 million mortgage over Gigg Lane.
The Financial Conduct Authority has been criticised for its ‘light touch’ when dealing with Lendy. Mr Day’s poor financial decisions continue to haunt the Shakers, and questions are once again going to be asked of football and financial governing bodies as to how this has been allowed to happen.
