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Liquidator: 2e2 preferential creditors to get £745k payout

A 'paltry amount' to be distributed among workforce

2e2's preferential creditors, including former staffers made redundant after the business crashed and burned, have been told what they can expect collctively from the financial embers and it's not a lot.

The Berkshire-based integrator’s UK ops went into administration at the start of 2013, the result of too many poorly integrated acquisitions and an unserviceable debt.

The biggest insolvency is the history of the Brit tech channel left a string of creditors in its wake: the company owed creditors £412 million, including £51.6 million to trade creditors.

The business was liquidated in August last year and left a significant shortfall in the amount paid out to secured creditors - £3.7m of the £257.2m they were owed. Collecting some debts proved troublesome.

2e2’s insolvency practitioner, latterly the liquidator, FTI Consulting has now told preferential creditors the “value of the distribution is £745,000”.

“Please note that preferential dividend payments in respect of arrears of wages and holiday pay will be subject to deductions for PAYE/NIC,” it said.

The company employed more than 1,442 staff in the UK at the time it hit the wall, the majority of which were made redundant. Other in the Channel Islands and in Europe were spared this because rivals picked up bits of the business.

The dividend will be paid out “two months” from 12 May which was the last date the preferential creditors had to prove and confirm their claims, the FTI letter added.

FTI is assessing preferentail creditors' claims, but one former employee told us that while he didn't know the size of payment coming his way, “the general feeling is that we’ll receive a pretty paltry amount ... I’ll let you know when the funds come dribbling in”.

Staffers were owed commission and bonuses before they were promptly shown the door by FTI Consulting. To receive anything at all nearly two and a half years after administration might be seen as a bonus by some.

After the administration, staff were rapidly made redundant and at the start of last year an employment tribunal ruled 326 individuals that took up the case were to be paid up to 12 weeks' wages by the government because they were not properly consulted before being laid off. ®

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