BDO awarded £3.4m in Rangers case

It alleged that administrators Paul Clark and David Whitehouse were guilty of breaches of duties owed by them to the company. The firm consequently suffered loss, injury and damage, and the interests of creditors were not served.

Administrators Paul Clark and David Whitehouse should have thought about selling the club’s training ground and other options in order to satisfy creditors.

The case was lodged in 2017 but evidence was only heard earlier this year. Rangers went into administration in 2012 after it failed to pay national insurance and VAT.

It was owned by Craig Whyte at the time. He had paid a token £1 for the club to Sir David Murray the previous year and said he would wipe its £18 million debt.

Messrs Clark and Whitehouse had aimed to sell the business. HMRC, however, voted against a company voluntary arrangement, which would have given the club more time to pay its debts. It was bought by a consortium led by businessman Charles Green.

BDO then took over as liquidator.

Lord Tyre, awarded £750,000 for failing to take the opportunity to look into selling Ibrox and leasing it back to the club along with £850,000 for their reluctance to explore a sale of the club’s training ground, which was then known as Murray Park.

A proposal offering up to £10m for Murray Park, which would also have left 15 acres of space for training facilities, was considered not credible.

Duff & Phelps said: “We are disappointed with this decision but we stand behind the work done by our restructuring professionals for every one of our clients.”