Bosses picked up £1m as MG Rover died

Apr 4 2006 By Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

SIX Longbridge bosses paid themselves a total of about £1 million in 12 months as MG Rover lurched towards insolvency, it emerged today.

The Phoenix Venture Holdings directors collected six-figure salaries as PVH clocked up losses of more than £40 million for 2004.

The highest paid director was believed to be John Edwards, who earned around £250,000. Mr Edwards was in charge of Longbridge's sales and marketing operation, distribution and overseas sales.

The six directors are chairman John Towers, vice-chairman Peter Beale, directors John Edwards and Nick Stephenson, non-executive director Nigel Petrie and former chief executive Kevin Howe.

The boardroom remuneration forms part of the 2004 accounts which were due to be signed off at a board meeting today ahead of Thursday's deadline.

The accounts must be published by April 6 if the directors are to avoid prosecution after missing previous deadlines at Companies House.

The 2004 salary payments are slightly down on the previous year's figure of £1.2 million, and none of the Phoenix bosses took any further pension payments for 2004.

A row blew up in November 2003 when it emerged from the fine detail of the 2002 accounts that the Phoenix four had awarded themselves a pension fund of £13 million despite poor sales and major losses at MG Rover.

The company finally went bust on April 8 2005, and 6,500 workers eventually lost their jobs following the end of car production and the collapse of a proposed joint venture deal with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.

* New Longbridge owners Nanjing's bid to revive the MG brand could be scuppered following claims that MG Rover Nederland still owns the marque for use in 15 European countries.

But PVH says it hopes to resolve outstanding licensing issues through talks with the Dutch group's administrator and dealers.

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