I see it as rather unfortunate that I, along with others, am being seen as in effect a party to the deception that went on at OwnerShips. It is interesting to note that the former accountant for a major London firm who was also employed there after I left does not get “blamed” (sadly he died soon after leaving O/S), or any of the current staff, though perhaps by oversight, or because they have not told their side of the story and just kept their heads down. For my part I too lost out, both financially and emotionally.

When I walked in to my job at OwnerShips I thought I had walked in to wonderland. I was working for a very genuine and kindly man and in an industry I had always wanted to work in – Valhalla was mine. OK, after an initial settling in period I soon saw a few areas that needed improving on and ended up working almost seven days a week, and during the periods when the meetings were being held, almost 24 hours a day, but in general I was working with people whom I had come to regard as real friends, both colleagues and in many cases customers.

It was true that money was tight; my side of the finances was managing the sinking funds and the general running of the company finances with items like wages and PAYE, contractors, rents etc. Allen looked after the new builds and all that went in to the sales side, there was some cross-fertilisation, but not a lot.

When I arrived we had a shortfall in the clients money, it was worrying, but manageable and it was decided that to repay it Allen would draw less commission on sales (that is how he paid himself), so I in effect cut my bosses salary! The shortfall was caused by overspends on boats, where basically boats cost more than 12 x the share price (+ commissions to staff), and Allen, having given contracts, felt he could not have gone back to the customers for more money.

By way of background Allen was suffering form cash flow problems well before I arrived and in talking this over with an accountant customer the “Free Services Scheme” came in to being, so it was a concept I “inherited”. I did sit down with Allen at one time as discuss the impact this was having on the company as actually we were only short of cash now and again on a short term basis and were in effect “borrowing” a larger than required sum of money over a full 12 months, but with no security to offer to a bank Allen felt this scheme was his only way forward. When you look at the "Interest" rate being paid it was execptionally high, and thus undermining cash flow of the company.

The first “major” change to take place after I arrived was The Dutch Barge Scheme, something I was vehemently opposed to but was “out voted”. I will not dwell on if suffice to say that the company lost huge sums of money on it, and as it did not have huge sums of money Allen had no option but to fund these through the Free Service Scheme. The barge scheme was dropped after I left so I do not know the exact history of its demise, or if further loses were made before it ended.

So now the company shortfall was more worrying, but as long as there was not a “run” (e.g. everyone asking for their money back all at once) and as long as it continued to build narrow boats and try to pay back the shortfall it could, perhaps, move forward. By this time the size of the fleet was getting to the point where the two of us could not cope and so more staff had to be employed, with all the associated costs, putting more strain of the coffers.

At this stage Allen, having seen the losses made on the Dutch Barge Scheme came up with the concept of yet another craft, an ultra luxurious wide beam barge with every mod-con you could imagine, to be called “Whisper”, which he would then use as a show-boat to sell others off, and make a tidy profit. It was a pipe-dream, but sadly it turned into a reality…….

I went home and sat down with my wife and poured my heart out, I told her that I could no longer carry on working there as I was not at all happy with the way the firm was being run and that as I was signing cheques I would be considered involved in it should this project move forward.

I told her that I just had to leave a job I loved with all my heart and that we would, for the time being, have to manage on her income, and with a mortgage and four school age kids, that was not going to be easy. I resigned, before Whisper was really even started. When I left the company was, perhaps, just, solvent. It would have been a long road back to an even keel but it could, perhaps, have been achieved.

Within this thread I am “accused” of covering something up, but I feel I was very much between a rock and a hard place. I could have put the word about that the company was not financially secure but I suspect that Allen would have told people that I was an ex-employee who held a grudge and made me look like I was some sort of pariah who should be avoided at all costs, much like he did with Chris when he tried to do the very same thing when he left some years after me, and Margaret whom I replaced when she left (she was his ex-girlfriend “with a grudge?”). In both cases “the customers” chose to believe what Allen had told them over what ex-employees said. Furthermore I could hear the thud of a writ landing on the doormat, and OK I could have had my day in court, but could I afford it? No.

Also, what if I was wrong and the Whisper project had been a success, I would have been responsible for the downfall of the company and been blamed for its demise. I would have been seen as the person that destroyed the firm or at least damaged its (excellent- Allen was very good at that) reputation. I would also have been responsible for putting my colleagues on the scrap heap, I could not do that to them AND as there was already a shortfall I would have been seen responsible for all the present customers in the Free Services Scheme losing their money. I was in a no win situation.

ALL the staff at OwnerShips were great people to work with, including Allen. Phil Capp is one of the nicest guys you could ever wish to meet – put him out of a job? No way. I could not do it. It was NOT my business; I was, after all, ONLY an employee.

I left OwnerShips and went to work for a firm selling engine parts where the position lasted only a short period and I found myself, for the first time in my life, signing on and claiming “dole”.

As for loosing money, well I now earn far less than I did at OwnerShips, I left a job I loved and walked away on some great friends and a great way of life. The twelve months after I left put a terrible strain on me financially and as a result on my marriage. You can put a price on the money, but not on the other things…..

It is about six years since I left OwnerShips and when I left (pre-Whisper) I would suspect the shortfall in the firms’ coffers was about £150,000, so how the present figure is arrived at I have no idea.

A lot of customers have lost money and I am sorry about that, but when pointing the finger they have only one person to point it at, and he is no longer with us.

Philip,

I think it takes a great deal of courage to walk away from a situation where you feel your principals are compromised - any of us that know you will remember your good humour and enjoyment of that job.

Have you considered starting a boat management company yourself - I know where you could find some willing customers and a great team!

Hi Philip - thanks for this explanation. I can fully understand your reasoning and it's helpful to know now why you left OS; I thought at the time it was a bit strange. I hope things go well for you, remembering with affection all the good things you did while you were part of the OS team (who all deserve better than this).

Charles Lyne (nb Saros)

Hi Philip,

You did the right and only thing you could have done. You were placed in a terrible situation.

We remember (and still miss) your dry humour and wit and great personality. You do not deserve this sort of treatment.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and uninformed speculation and accusations are very hurtful and destructive: it is early days and it will take time for the full truth of what has happened to be uncovered. People should wait for that to happen rather than launching unfounded attacks against individuals.

Keep your chin up and we wish you well.

Kevin and Alice

Phillip I seem to remember you were a Fairport fan. Good Luck

Philip, I seem to remember from your profile on the O/S site also said you were a Groundhogs fan, one of my favourites from the late 60's & early 70's.

Dave

Philip,

Some hurt and bewildered people will always want to point the finger of blame somewhere. Those of us who know you well have no doubt as to your integrity whatsoever.

Graham (ex Sylph)

Phil,I think it very unfair that you are being castigated for not blowing the whistle on what was going on at Ownerships. frankly,I cannnot see how you could have done anyhing other than you did. I remember meeting you at Stockton when we were looking to join - you were most helpful. I also met you later
after you had left,you came to one of the shows at Braunston. i asked you if you would consider coming back,as I could see that you were sorely missed.Your reply was unequivocal - "No way" - but you didn't elaborate.I think we had a drink together.

Keep it up.,and best of luck.Those of us who know you are on your side.
regards.

Philip,

I would have hoped to "meet" you again under more "normal" circumstances!

OwnerShips is to blame for helping Trish and I realise our own dream of owning, and living on, our own 70 footer since 2001. For that we are grateful. To hear of what is going down now has been sad for us because, as you and others have said, we liked Allen and his up front honesty when dealing with customers.

The concept of shared ownership worked for us as it is still doing for 600 Owners. I really hope that the core of the operation will continue because not everyone can or wants to sell up and live like us on the cut; the alternative is to pay stupid money to hire a boat.

Allen should have stuck with the original concept and remembered the acronym KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid

With Regards

Kevin & Trish McNiff
OBERON/ENDEAVOUR, 1990-2000 and
one time winter maintenance organiser

Thanks for the explanation Phillip, we are just catching up on the continuing Ownerships saga. When you left Ownerships my wife and I agreed that it was probably because of "something funny going on". I have to say that we were always cautious about AM; for a number of reasons. First and probably most important is that we came at it from the political left, where we had developed a healthy scepticism of small businesses and the people who own and run them, and their obsession with control and secrecy in many areas, and a general level of incompetence. That was based on personal experience.

I also worked with someone who had personal characterists very similar to Matthews, and the story of his previous spat's with Ed Rimmer mirrored exactly the way my former colleague behaved. You too were acutely aware that AM would respond in a similar manner against you had you tried to make owners and others aware. I have always thought that people like that suffer a good deal of paranoia, and part of that was their objection to being so described. Another feature of that particular diagnosis is the constant presence of enemies - once the external ones have been defeated, the search commences for those inside the organisation - The Enemy Within as Margaret Thatcher described the miners in 1984. And there's another story....

Matthew's always faced the people whose money he was mis-appropriating with jokes, justifications and reasonable assurances - so do all such swindlers; remember Maxwell and more recently Bernie Madoff.

I have also worked for a not-for-profit employer, a very good and principled one, so understand exactly the concept. It is not what many people would believe it to be, but it looks good and socially responsible. If there is any surplus at the end of the year, my employer shares it between the staff - as it is we who generate the income by our efforts, and, being in the voluntary sector, are not over-generously rewarded. In the wrong circumstances, it could as easily go into an indivdual pocket without any questions being asked. It's sad that you had to leave that element of job satisfaction, Phillip, you cannot put a price on that, and the service you delivered to owners was beyond anything they could have expected.

And of course you were right to divine that there is nothing you can do - the balance of power lies heavily with the one who controls access to the communications and the victims, compounded as always by Matthews's plausibilty and the "fan club" he generated around himself, another important shield against exposure.

As someone has already commented - had he kept it small and simple it would still be working, and we'd still be in it, and no-one would have lost their money. (We fortunately sold our share in Spring Dew at the show in 2007, just in time) But sadly, many people are not aware of their own level of incompetence, and because a modest project goes well, think it is all down to them, and they then persuade themselves they can develop into something larger and more complex, especially when they have access to someone else's money.

Everyone handing their money over to someone else in circumstances where what they get in return is nebulous and conceptual rather than concrete and practical should always remember the mantra of caution: "If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is".

We will always be grateful that Ownerships gave us many years of happy boating that was reasonably priced, and allowed us to develop our skills and the confidence to go it alone. Let's hope that something positive can be found to replace it that is based on principles of self-organisation and the provision of a service for use and utility, and really not-for-profit.

Yet you shared non of this with anyone until it was all over.A bit late like so many other people.

A bit unfair Dave, others worked it out (probably not the facts, but knew something was wrong) And if Phil had spoken up, who would have listened? Allen Matthews fooled a lot of people and no one would listen when people like Phil, Elaine, Peter Scott and Chris etc tried to tell them. I'm afraid to most people they just came across as spiteful ex employees. They stood no chance!