Templar Corporation Limited (11670988): administration
- Status
- In administration
- Administration began
- 2021-01-12
- Administrators
- Jamie Playford, Alex Dunton
- Administrators' firm
- Creditsafe Business Solutions
- Incorporated
- 2018-11-12
- Location
- Norwich
- Industry
- 82990 Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Why it went into administration
- COVID-19
- Creditor pressure / legal action
From the administrators' statement
The Company was incorporated in November 2018 by Simon Harris to act as a UK parent company of a number of entities working across a number of sectors including banking, wealth management, architecture, and media.
The original objective in acquiring banking status was to complete the acquisition of a Bulgarian Bank and transfer its license to the UK under the brand of Templar Bank. This acquisition was being conducted by third parties in Bulgaria known to the senior management team based in the UK and was due to be completed toward the end of April 2019. Meetings with said third parties in Bulgaria in June 2019 revealed that some information had been withheld and that the Bulgarian authorities had blocked the sale, pending an investigation into the previous ownership.
As the initial capital had subsequently fallen through, a number of other options were explored in order to attain sufficient capital to enable operational capacity. After further financing objectives failed due to external failures and agreements between third parties, Templar was introduced to a new principal investor. The investor had recently been left a sizeable sum by his former employer which had been disputed by family members. Once this dispute was resolved, the investor agreed to invest a total of £25 million with the Templar Group in exchange for 25% of share capital and the title “Chairman Middle East Operations”. The investor travelled to London in January 2020, a visit during which he re-confirmed his commitment to invest. At this time the investor was required to return to Saudi Arabia to attend a funeral and, due to Covid-19, travel became highly restricted preventing any further progression in completing the release of funds to the Company. Throughout 2020, the Company continued to attempt to progress the proposed investment but this was frustrated by the ongoing travel restrictions.
Administrators' statement of proposals (2021-03-31) · Companies House register