At last our fight is over – now we’ll help other victims
Couple who helped jail HBOS bankers vow to keep up the pressure
FOR the first time in more than a decade, Paul and Nikki Turner are able to enjoy the pleasures most of us take for granted at Christmas.
Their bungalow is warm, not bone-achingly cold as it has been in previous years.
They can afford a turkey and a Christmas tree out of their own pockets, instead of relying on the kindness of others. And they can treat their family to the presents they deserve.
The Turners are among hundreds of business owners whose livelihoods were destroyed by corrupt bankers at the Reading branch of HBOS bank.
They have become standard-bearers for other victims, many of whom will spend yet another Christmas waiting for a resolution.
The Turners’ ordeal began in 2003 when – after taking out a £160,000 loan for their music publishing business – they were persuaded by HBOS bankers to take on the services of turnaround group Quayside Corporate Services.
Paul and Nikki were told QCS were experts in the music industry – but in reality, the Turners were being fleeced by HBOS bankers and QCS consultants who had formed a fraudulent alliance.
I n 2007, after t he Turners worked out what was going on and asked t o end t heir r el at i onship with QCS, the bank pulled their loan, plunging the couple into financial ruin. They estimate they lost £11 million. The Turners fought back and played a huge part in bringing the rogue bankers and consultants to justice at a trial this year where the culprits were jailed. At the end of last month, the Turners finally won a payout from Lloyds Banking Group, which took over HBOS in the financial crisis. Details of their settlement have not been disclosed but Paul says they are ‘ content’. But their hard-fought victory has, however, cost them a decade of their lives. In that time, they faced 22 eviction notices and, says Nikki, ‘five or six’ visits from bailiffs after being unable t o pay their council tax. The couple were unable to afford central heating and hot water for a decade and relied on friends and family for oil to run their Aga.
‘It’s all so depressing,’ says Nikki. ‘You lose friends as well. Because whenever you see them, you’re talking about the latest thing that’s happened in your saga. They don’t want to know, because you’ve been going on about it for ten years… It’s not because they’re bad people. It’s because they can’t relate to it. And so you become really isolated.’
In some cases, the sorts of injustices suffered by the Turners have led to relationship breakdowns but Paul and Nikki remain devoted. ‘We both decided we would work on it non- stop,’ adds Nikki. ‘ And our family’s been supportive. The kids have been absolutely amazing. If anything, it made us closer as a family because we all hate injustice.’
Having won their case, Paul, 66, and Nikki, 62, of Linton, near Cambridge, have vowed to devote themselves to helping others through the SME Alliance, which they set up to fight for justice from the banks.
They are also planning to relaunch their music publishing business and Nikki hopes t o publish a number of books – including one on HBOS Reading – which she wrote while suffering from insomnia.
Their ordeal may even be turned into a movie. They have signed a contract with Imaginarium Productions – set up by Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Lord Of The Rings and Snoke in the latest Star Wars film The Last Jedi, and producer Jonathan Cavendish – to make a film about their battle.
They also want politicians to grasp the issues faced by firms.
‘SME Alliance is a support network for the victims, but most of all we want it to be a lobbying group to get change where it matters. And I think it is beginning to happen,’ says Nikki.