Sir: The piece this week by Michael Lewis on profiteering
receivers is well-timed and accurate. However, there is a further point than the excessive charges levied by receiv- ers and approved by banks. It is that they do a poor job. I am familiar with several cases of major receiverships where assets were sold too cheaply, too late, and businesses put into liquidation which could have been sold as going concerns. Receivers too often fancy themselves as business managers and deal- makers; in my experience they are hope- less at either activity. But they persist in haggling over offers and fiddling with the underlying business. Ultimately not only do creditors and shareholders suffer un- necessary loss, but workers are thrown on the dole and wealth destroyed. The degree of corporate destruction undergone by Britain in the last two years through sloppy banking and badly conducted receiverships may never be repaired. It is possible to imagine Britain becoming a virtual Third World nation, lorded over by vampire-like receivers and bankers, feed- ing on the corpse of manufacturing.
God save Britain from these institu- tionalised, over-rewarded villains.
Luke Johnson
72 Ledbury Road, London W11
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