City spy: Blue Oar is under cosh after 'string of lies' exposed

The £225,000 fine imposed on Blue Oar for its role in the flotation of, and its subsequent behaviour as nominated adviser to, central heating and ventilation company Worthington Nicholls, is the second-largest ever on an AIM broker.

Ahead of the June 2006 flotation, Blue Oar and Worthington Nicholls were told by accountants that "the reporting requirements, timetable and level of detail required as a Plc necessitates the appointment of the FD".

Worthington only had a part-time finance director and did not appoint a full-time one until January 2007 — seven months after it floated.

During that time, it "did not employ any full-time qualified accounting staff", said the LSE.

Among various statements made to investors by Worthington under the oversight of Blue Oar were some blatant lies.

These included: Statement: "The emphasis on the quality of client service has led to a high percentage of recurring revenue with existing customers, which means that the quotation register is significantly ahead when compared to the same time last year."
Fact: The actual order book was down from £932,077 to £164,580.

Statement: "The group is currently in discussions with a further five hotel chains which, in aggregate, own in excess of 90 hotels."

Fact: The company was only negotiating contracts in relation to five hotels, one from each chain.

Statement: Two recently acquired businesses had "exceeded directors' expectations."
Fact: The two companies were performing worse year-on-year.

Statement: "We expect profit margins across the group to remain stable for the full year as a whole recognising the benefit derived from the increased run rate of revenue in the second half."

Fact: Internal financial forecasts, seen by Blue Oar, showed that revenues were running 9% short
of budget.

Smart move, then, for Blue Oar to have changed it name only last week to Astaire Securities. Surely nobody could think they are one and the same firm...

It's that man Vandyk... again

The parent company of Astaire Securities (previously Blue Oar, previously Corporate Synergy), Astaire Group, put out its own reaction to the LSE fine and censure.

This claimed the firm "is under new management", and had "recently undergone a significant reorganisation".

That is being slightly economical with the truth. At the time of the dodgy Worthington flotation and right through until March 2007, Blue Oar's chief executive was Edward Vandyk.

He is commonly known as Dr Death in the City because of his background as a GP and association with several failed businesses.

And who became chief executive of Blue Oar following his successful takeover bid for the company in April this year? Why, Edward Vandyk.

RBS keeps an ultra-low profile at Wimbledon jolly

City Spy was at Wimbledon yesterday, so couldn't resist the chance to search out the fabled Royal Bank of Scotland corporate hospitality area.

After hunting high and low, the bailed-out bankers were eventually tracked down to a discreet suite high up in the Court One complex — rather than a marquee in the main private hospitality zone.

RBS knows it looks awkward spending a rumoured £300,000 on wining and dining clients, even without the Sunday papers exposing the fact.

So, surprise, surprise, there were no RBS visible logos outside Court One or markings showing the RBS suite.

Even among the well-heeled Wimbledon clientele, bankers aren't guaranteed a warm reception...

Intriguing timing that Royal Bank of Scotland should let slip chief executive Stephen Hester is in line for a £9.6 million pay package at the bailed-out bank.

Happily for RBS, anger over the deal is likely to be muted because of the election for Commons Speaker, held last night, which was guaranteed to dominate the news agenda.

Perish the thought that the big banks would miss out on some corporate entertaining at Wimbledon.

City Spy spotted the following banks had individual marquees for clients on the opening day at the All-England Club: UBS, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Santander, Nomura and Handelsbanken. And others took suites like RBS...

Others who hired marquees despite the crunch: GlaxoSmithKline, Imperial Tobacco, DeLaRue and 2entertain, the BBC's DVD sales business which avoided administration when minority owner Woolworth's went bust...

In these austere times, there are cutbacks for guests. Veteran Wimbledon-goers noted there are virtually no goodie bags and fewer free tournament programmes (usual price £7) — only one per table instead of one per guest.

Bidding for lunch with Warren Buffett ends at 3am London time on Saturday.

The Sage of Omaha raised $2.1 million for Glide, a charity that helps the poor and homeless in San Francisco, with last year's lunch auction but the feeling is he will be hard-pressed to match that amount this year, given the collapse in financial markets.

Last year's $2.1 million bid was the most expensive charity item ever sold on eBay.

By contrast, last year's Evening Standard charity auction saw lunch with City Editor Chris Blackhurst and columnists Anthony Hilton and Neil Collins fetch £410...