MPs misled over MGRG activities

A report into the collapse of the MG Rover Group (MGRG) has found that MPs were given inaccurate and misleading explanations about the group's activities by one of its directors.

Gervase MacGregor FCA and Guy Newey QC were instructed to investigate MGRG, its parent company Phoenix Venture Holdings (PVH) and MGR Capital in the period between the purchase of MGRG from BMW in May 2000 and the date it entered administration, owing creditors around £1.3bn.

The inspectors examined the actions of the directors of PVH throughout their five-year ownership, particularly Peter Beale, John Edwards, Nick Stephenson and John Towers, known as the Phoenix Consortium or Phoenix Four.

The report investigated the purchase, installation and operation of computer software to eliminate evidence held by Beale the day after the inquiry was announced. It also looked at restructuring changes within the group that led to the creation of 33 separate companies throughout the period and the large financial rewards made to the directors.