Just for the record, the letter I have from the Administrators states that the reasons were essentially:
Company had incurred tax losses each year from 2004
Company had incurred trading losses of £15m from inception to July 2008
Dramatic fuel increase and decline in revenue during 2008
In October they had cash flow problems, being unable to hedge against very volatile fuel and not wanting to pass these costs on to customers. Also lower than forecast ticket and retail sales
Previous losses had been funded by existing shareholders who declined to give further support
Management entered discussions with c20 potential investors
Received a summons from Port of Boulogne for unpaid harbour fees of c £1.3m. Speed One arrested 6 Nov 2008.
As a result of the above, and inability to trade whilst the ship remained arrested, administrators were appointed.
Further down is a list of creditors, which includes:
Port of Boulogne £1.3m
Dover Harbour Board £238k
HMRC £1.1m <<<"Our money" !!
plus a total of 134,753 pre-bought tickets worth £3.6m (which to me sounds like they'd oversold their capacity as well!!)
Yet further down there is the Directors Statement of Affairs, which the Administrators had to "reformat" (i.e. correct). The Directors state assets of £14.5m. The Administrators state £2.3m. This is due to a £12m "oversight" by the Directors. Astonishing!
Anyway, from the look of that sorry mess, if the French hadn't done it then someone else would have...
