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Mustang deal saves 30 jobs

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TROUBLED Mustang Marine has been bought out of administration by a consortium of investors, securing thirty jobs it was announced yesterday. 

The value of the deal has not been disclosed. A consortium of nine individuals led by Stewart Graves has bought the company, which is based at Pembroke Dock. Mr Graves is the interim managing director put in place to run the company late last year by the Milford Haven Port Authority. A new construction hall at Mustang Marine?s base in Pembroke Dock was only opened by Welsh Economy Minister Edwina Hart in November 2013. In February, Mr Graves denied there were any plans to call in administrators when reports suggested the firm was in financial difficulty, describing the firm as being ‘tight for cash’. Later the same month the Herald was able to report that local businesses had been left owed hundreds of thousands of pounds. Mustang has had millions of pounds in funding from the Milford Haven Port Authority and a cash injection from the Welsh government. After calling in the administrators, Mr Graves revealed that the company had a significant cash shortage in December 2013 which left it facing closure. He said with assistance from a new management team and external advisers a long-term funding package was secured in February from the Welsh government and Milford Haven Port Authority and an external third party. However, after completing its review of the business, the external party withdrew its offer, and ?without that party the long-term funding package could not proceed?. The Pembroke Dock-based boat building and ship repair company officially entered administration at the beginning of March with the loss of 66 jobs. Questions were raised to Welsh Government in Cardiff regarding the Port Authority’s responsibilities to local firms and in March, Alec Don, Chief Executive of the Port Authority told The Herald: “The Port of Milford Haven is a 50% shareholder and remains a separate corporate entity to Mustang Marine. The Port is not liable for Mustang’s debts. Any specific questions about that business, including queries about creditors, must be directed to the administrators Grant Thornton.” “As a Trust Port we continually look to invest in growth and economic activity in the Port. On this basis, and in good faith, the Port of Milford Haven invested in Mustang Marine. The company approached us with a firm business plan and orders that required our support and investment to achieve.” However, in an interview at the time of Mustang Marine’s collapse, local MP Simon Hart said: “The fact that Pembrokeshire companies are owed hundreds of thousands of pounds seems to have been glossed over. The Port Authority cannot talk about growth and activity on the one hand and then refuse to even consider the plight of local people left out of pocket on the other. These people undertook work for Mustang as they felt comfortable that the company was part of a larger trading operation of which the Port was a central part.” It has now emerged that HSBC Bank and former Mustang Director Huw Lewis will be receive around £270,000 and £296,000 as secured creditors of the firm, while former employees can expect a share of around £105,000 as preferential creditors. Those figures leave under £950,000 to be distributed to creditors owed more than £3.1m. According to its most recent set of publicly available accounts, the company had a £6m turnover in the year ending 31 August 2012. But turnover subsequently jumped to £9m following Mustang Marine’s £500,000 acquisition of Milford Haven Ship Repair from the MHPA. But the company also saw pretax profits of £847,817 in 2010/11 turn into pre-tax losses of £516,618 in 2011/12. Management accounts for the year to 31 August 2013 show the business then racked up further losses of £602,340, which were recently revised to losses of £1.1m. In a newly published statement of administrator’s proposals, dated 22 April 2014, Grant Thornton examined the dramatic turnaround. It reported that the directors attributed the losses to the company’s failure to hit predicted margins on new-build projects such as Supacat 1, disruption and delays on other contracts caused by delays on Supacat 1, ?375,000 spent on refurbishing its Pembroke Dock office, and a lack of robust business procedures. Grant Thornton were appointed administrators to the boat manufacturer in March this year. Alistair Wardell and Nigel Morris of the business advisory firm’s Cardiff office have now confirmed a sale of the boat-building and marine services arms. Immediately after entering administration, Mustang Marine made 66 staff redundant, with 48 kept on to continue work on a number of projects. The future of 30 of these employees has been secured by the sale, while a further deal for the dry dock part of the business that administrators expect to complete later this week looks set to save another ten jobs. The existing projects that the 30 staff will work on include building a Tidal Energy Turbine that will be installed in Ramsey Sound later this year. Lead administrator and head of Grant Thornton in Wales Mr Wardell, said: “We are delighted to have been able to conclude a deal for the boat building and marine services parts of the Mustang business. This is very good news for the 30 skilled employees who ave remained working for the company through the administration process. Their jobs are now secure, and the new owners are confident that the business will now grow with the aim of taking on further employees in the near future.” Administrators have said that the workers will be retained to work on projects including a tidal energy turbine. Grant Thornton said talks with ‘an interested buyer’ for the facility are continuing.

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Rugby Weekly – Tenby’s promotion push continues

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It’s crunch time for all rugby clubs around the county, whether promotion is their aim or fighting relegation or even just trying to improve their league position, it’s now or never. 

Last weekend saw an important win for Fishguard in division two west which should put any relegation fears to bed completely. James Griffiths added an impressive 18 points for the Seagulls as they defeated Nantgaredig 33-19. 

Elsewhere in the second division, Milford were beaten 32-8 by a good Lampeter outfit. The Mariners are still a little too close for comfort with the drop zone but should have enough quality to see them safe. 

At the other end of the table Tenby sit in second place and have played fewer games than leaders St Clears and third place Lampeter. They won impressively again last weekend, beating Pontyberem 64-19 at Haywood Lane. Fletcher Broadhurst impressed with two tries as did Hywel Baker who also grabbed himself a brace. Another excellent performance in an outstanding season so far in which promotion would be the absolute icing on the cake. 

In Division Three West, Pembroke were well beaten by Laugharne 74-15 in which the outstanding Liam Price and Nico Setaro both crossed the whitewash 4 teams a piece. The latter also added 7 successful conversions. 

There was a local derby at Pill Parks where Llangwm hosted Pembroke Dock Quins and it was an exciting clash. The visitors won narrowly 28-23, Craig Barnett and Gethin Bradney both scored two tries for the Quins. The Wasps battled hard and will be proud of their performance, Gethin Thomas impressed for the hosts with two tries of his own but it wasn’t enough to secure the points. 

St David’s hosted the high flying Cardigan outfit and were unable to score in reply to the visitors 20 points, with it ending 20-0. The Saints however won’t be losing too much sleep over it as they have had a great season so far. 

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Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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