Jon Moulton defends City Link collapse
JON MOULTON, the founder of City Link’s parent company Better Capital, has spoken of his deep regret at the attempt to turn around the collapsed company, telling MPs yesterday “we killed ourselves to try to save this company and we failed”.
Over 2,700 workers lost their jobs after the parcel delivery firm collapsed on Christmas Eve. City Link called in administrators Ernst & Young on 24 December but workers only found out through reports in the media on Christmas Day.
Speaking in front of the joint Scottish Affairs and BIS select committee, Moulton said the move was made with “all the enthusiasm of a man reviewing the details of his own hanging”. He said that he had wanted to hold back on the news until Boxing Day and laid the blame for the Christmas Day notice at the door of the RMT union.
Better Capital lost £20m trying to turn City Link around but the venture proved impossible. City Link lost £3m in December, a devastating blow in the busiest month of the year. Moulton said it injected another £2m on 22 December but “the final legs ran out when the last buyer ceased to be on the table and the last refinancing ran out. That was the 22nd of December”.