Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Finance company ‘cut off oxygen’ to Angus car firm
my whole body. I wanted it so badly. It is just so special that it’s here in the UK.”
Eilish finished the day how she began her sporting career – side by side with her mum.
Liz, 58, had flown in from her base in Qatar to watch her girl’s career-defining moment and was bursting with pride.
She said: “For me, as a mother, to witness your daughter winning is amazing and to win it in the same event that I won it in.
“She’s just run the race that I always knew she was capable of running. It was amazing.”
Just a day earlier, Eilish revealed her plan to get Tayside kids involved in athletics and ensure none are frozen out by cost. It’s a proposal inspired by mum Liz’s path to glory.
Eilish said: “My mum used to run to the track. She couldn’t get the bus down or get a car or lift because my gran and grandad couldn’t offer that.
“My mum’s coach, Harry Bennett, and an uncle of my mum’s and some people in the community, they effectively paid for a one-way flight for my mum to go on scholarship to the States.
“She didn’t have a clue where she was going or what she was doing. But it was an opportunity and it changed her life.”
THE former owner of Mackie Motors claims he was forced to sell the Angus business after being cut off from the supply of new vehicles and financing.
Earlier this year Kevin Mackie sold the company which was started by his parents Ron and Janie in 1977.
Mackie Motors had 70 Angus staff and operated Renault and MG dealerships in Brechin and sold new Nissan vehicles in Arbroath.
Now the prominent businessman, who is chairman of Brechin City Football Club, has revealed the reason he sold the business.
In November, Mr Mackie was informed that finance company RCI was terminating a two-year contract with seven days’ notice.
RCI, Renault and Nissan are interlinked. RCI is owned by Groupe Renault and also trades as Nissan Finance.
Under the Renault and Nissan franchise agreements, it was a requirement Mackie Motors used RCI to offer PCP finance deals.
The notice meant he could no longer offer finance to customers.
But Mackie Motors was also frozen out of integrated systems preventing it from being able to order new Renault and Nissan vehicles.
Mr Mackie said hundreds of orders for new cars were cancelled which “cut off the oxygen” to his business.
He said an official reason for the contract ending has never been provided.
“We had more than 300 orders going into 2022 – they cancelled them all,” Mr Mackie said.
Mackie Motors was also not being supplied new parts, meaning repairs to vehicles could not be done.
Mr Mackie has taken legal action against RCI at the High Court in London.
However, the claim has been thrown out, with the judge determining that he could have sourced a finance provider elsewhere.
A spokesperson for RCI Financial Services said: “It is very rare for us to have recourse to change a contractual relationship, and we would only ever do so where absolutely necessary.”
A Nissan spokesman said: “We are not able to comment on this as Nissan was not party to those proceedings.”
Renault did not respond to a request for comment.