MIKE Connett’s debt-ridden company Beaconet has been given a stay of execution, after a High Court hearing to decide whether it should be wound up was adjourned for a third time.
But the financial problems of the beleaguered former Northwich Vics chairman paled into insignificance last week as he forced the club out of its home after stripping it of all safety equipment, prompting Trading Standards to shut the ground down for the second time in two months.
A removals truck rolled up at the Marston’s Arena on Tuesday morning, and everything from fire extinguishers to CCTV equipment was boxed up.
On Thursday, Connett banned Vics owner Jim Rushe and secretary Derek Nuttall from the ground, sacked groundsman Joe Biddle and allowed a team of workers to play football on the pitch two days before the league game against Histon, which was eventually moved to Altrincham’s Moss Lane.
“It is not really economically viable to play at Altrincham,” said Vics owner Jim Rushe. “But it’s very good of them to let us play.”
Beaconet was due before Mr Registrar Simmonds last Wednesday, when a winding-up petition brought by Bank of Scotland over a five-figure debt was due to be heard.
But the hearing was adjourned again until January 28, the same day as Northwich Victoria (2004) Limited is due in court for a similar hearing.
Vics’ hearing is expected to be put back to allow Jim Rushe’s consortium to finalise the purchase of the Marston’s Arena and surrounding land from administrators Deloitte, who seized Beaconet’s main asset late last year to recover £1.2m owed in unpaid tax by the company to Clydesdale Bank.
