There have been a steady stream of desperate stories emerging in the wake of Norton Motorcycles’ collapse over the last couple of weeks, but one question certainly remains… just where is Stuart Garner?
The owner and CEO has gone to ground since the storm surrounding Norton’s collapse came to light with Garner accused of misusing pension funds to funnel money into a failing company.
A recent Pensions Ombudsmen hearing called Garner to attend but he failed to show, adding further insult to the injury that could see hundreds of people lose out on vast sums of money.
As such, people are beginning to take matters into their own hands with a petition set up by ‘Commando 2012 Pensioners’ – a nod to the name of one of the pension funds created when Norton was revived by Garner – appearing on change.org calling on the government to step in and force Garner to answer questions about the collapse.
The petition requires 10,000 signatures before the government is obligated to respond, with an aim to ensure it has to be discussed in the House of Commons. At the time of writing it has secured 621 signatures. The petition reads:
“A lot of the monies was used to fund personal lifestyles for his family and close friends including expensive sports cars and artworks for his stately home.
“Since the company is now in administration it seems the people who invested unwillingly knowing the true nature of Mr Garners intentions have lost everything.” You can read the full petition HERE
It comes as the government itself is under pressure to explain its own conduct into the sorry saga having siphoned a significant amount of tax payers money in grants towards Norton without seemingly taking due diligence. Indeed, Norton was repeatedly highlighted it as a successful British manufacturing company by acting governments, which in turn helped them secure sizeable loans from banks too.
It was originally stated the company owes £300,000 to HMRC, but the collapse revealed a darker background in which pensions holders have been unable to retrieve their money even after the lock-in period had ended.
You can view the full petition and sign up RIGHT HERE…
