Some creditors at JJB Sports ‘got pennies’

COLLAPSED stores chain JJB Sports has sent some of its unsecured creditors cheques worth less than the cost of the stamps used to return the money.

The administrators said the chain had been billed with £134million in unsecured claims. But only £600,000 had been made available to return after cash was handed to secured lenders and administrators.

The administrators added that they had identified and agreed more than 4,000 claims and had decided to cap the cost of dealing with these at £150,000, which left just £450,000.

It meant that unsecured creditors – including landlords and suppliers – received only a fraction of a penny for every £1 owed.

‘Unfortunately this resulted in some creditors receiving cheques for only a few pence,’ the administrators said in their report.

JJB had 133 stores and employed 2,200 staff when it collapsed in October 2012.

Lloyds Bank, which had provided JJB with a £25million facility, has received £20.5million so far. US retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods, a second tier lender, had provided JJB with an £18.5million facility and has received £1.8million.

Administrators at KPMG, who have so far charged more than £3million in fees, said they expected Dick’s would ‘suffer a shortfall on their lending’.

The latest report comes just a month ahead of the trial of former chief executive Chris Ronnie relating to an alleged £1million fraud connected to business contracts dating back to 2008.

JJB supplier David Ball and his business partner David Barrington will appear in Southwark Crown Court alongside Ronnie.

Mike Ashley, the boss of Sports Direct, acquired 20 JJB stores as soon as the firm collapsed, but he closed the majority six months later after complaining he could not agree deals with landlords.