Cattles
Encyclopedia
Cattles plc is a British
consumer finance
company based in Batley
, West Yorkshire
. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange
and is a former constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
.
. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange
in 1963. In the 1990s it developed the Shopacheck brand. In 1990 it acquired Compass Credit and went on to buy Welcome Financial Services in 1994, The Lewis Group in 1997 and Dial4aloan in 2001.
In June 2009 in an effort to improve liquidity, Welcome Car Finance, the company's car financing arm was closed. This followed the announcement made by Cattles in May 2009 that the company was to axe 1000 jobs. The closure meant that 130 jobs were lost.
In March 2009 three directors - James Corr (Finance Director), Ian Cummine (Chief Operating Officer) and Adrian Cummings (Compliance and Risk Director) were suspended pending an investigation by Deloitte into accounting irregularities. In July 2009, the above 3 directors were dismissed without compensation and the Chairman Norman Broadhurst and CEO David Postings chose to leave the group.
In December 2009 the company announced that its losses were such that shareholders could not expect their shares (suspended from trading in April 2009) to have any value. Executive chairman Margaret Young refused to put to an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders a proposal that the non executive directors who constituted the audit committee of the company consider resigning at the end of the year.
Shareholders then voted with an 83% majority in favour of a request to ask the financial creditors of the company to sanction the payment of up to £500,000, to cover the costs of a shareholder petitioning to wind up the company.
PWC (Price Waterhouse Coopers) agreed a request to resign as auditors of the company. Grant Thornton were appointed in their place.
Paul Felton-Smith, who is experienced in financial restructuring, was appointed as Finance Director in June 2010.
Cattles was acquired by Bovess Limited on 28 February 2011, as part of a High Court sanctioned scheme of arrangement. Cattles was then delisted from the LSE on 7 March 2011.
. The Office of Fair Trading published a consultative paper which raised concerns about concentration of market share between the four largest providers, including Cattles. It also mentioned a number of business practices and customer characteristics which could hinder market competitiveness.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
consumer finance
Consumer finance
Alternative financial services in the United States refers to a particular type of financial service, namely sub-prime lending by non-bank financial institutions. This branch of the financial services industry is more extensive in the United States than in some other countries, because the major...
company based in Batley
Batley
Batley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies southeast of Bradford, southwest of Leeds and north of Dewsbury, near the M62 motorway. It has a population of 49,448 . Other nearby towns include Morley to the northeast, Ossett to the southeast...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and is a former constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions to and demotions from the index take place quarterly in March, June, September and December...
.
History
The Company was founded by Joseph Cattle in 1927 in HullKingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
in 1963. In the 1990s it developed the Shopacheck brand. In 1990 it acquired Compass Credit and went on to buy Welcome Financial Services in 1994, The Lewis Group in 1997 and Dial4aloan in 2001.
In June 2009 in an effort to improve liquidity, Welcome Car Finance, the company's car financing arm was closed. This followed the announcement made by Cattles in May 2009 that the company was to axe 1000 jobs. The closure meant that 130 jobs were lost.
In March 2009 three directors - James Corr (Finance Director), Ian Cummine (Chief Operating Officer) and Adrian Cummings (Compliance and Risk Director) were suspended pending an investigation by Deloitte into accounting irregularities. In July 2009, the above 3 directors were dismissed without compensation and the Chairman Norman Broadhurst and CEO David Postings chose to leave the group.
In December 2009 the company announced that its losses were such that shareholders could not expect their shares (suspended from trading in April 2009) to have any value. Executive chairman Margaret Young refused to put to an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders a proposal that the non executive directors who constituted the audit committee of the company consider resigning at the end of the year.
Shareholders then voted with an 83% majority in favour of a request to ask the financial creditors of the company to sanction the payment of up to £500,000, to cover the costs of a shareholder petitioning to wind up the company.
PWC (Price Waterhouse Coopers) agreed a request to resign as auditors of the company. Grant Thornton were appointed in their place.
Paul Felton-Smith, who is experienced in financial restructuring, was appointed as Finance Director in June 2010.
Cattles was acquired by Bovess Limited on 28 February 2011, as part of a High Court sanctioned scheme of arrangement. Cattles was then delisted from the LSE on 7 March 2011.
Operations
The company offers loans to "sub-prime" customers who are often refused credit by more mainstream lenders such as high-street banks. Since such customers are considered to be more risky, the interest rates charged tend to be significantly higher than those charged by banks.Controversy over home collected credit
In June 2004, the National Consumer Council referred a Super-Complaint regarding the Home Collected Credit industry to the Office of Fair TradingOffice of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...
. The Office of Fair Trading published a consultative paper which raised concerns about concentration of market share between the four largest providers, including Cattles. It also mentioned a number of business practices and customer characteristics which could hinder market competitiveness.