THE case of a Scottish businessman on hunger strike shows the vulnerability of UK businesses to “abusive treatment” by lenders and vulture funds, an MP has told the House of Commons.
SNP MP Angela Crawley raised the case of John Guidi, who is protesting at his treatment by Clydesdale Bank and Cerberus Capital Management. Guidi pitched a tent outside the Glasgow head office of Clydesdale owner CYBG on Sunday.
Asking an urgent question, Crawley said her Lanark and Hamilton East constituent has been made bankrupt and risks losing his family home within weeks. She urged the UK Government to set up an independent financial tribunal to resolve disputes in a fairer way. Treasury minister John Glen said he was taking the case “very seriously”. He said he understood action is on hold and both companies had offered to meet Guidi.
Crawley said Guidi’s problems began after Clydesdale Bank sold its tailored business loans division to Cerberus Capital Management, an American private equity firm, in 2014.
She said: “He says they put his company into receivership a few months after purchase. As a result of my constituent signing a guarantee, he has been made personally bankrupt and the company is pursuing his family home.
“This tragic case brings to attention the vulnerability of UK businesses to the abusive treatment by lenders and vulture funds, and the inadequacy of the current regulation in preventing it. Sadly, he isn’t alone. Hundreds of people across the UK had tailored business loans sold by Clydesdale Bank to Cerberus Capital Management.”
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