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Saturday 6 January 2018

Has Autotrip lost its way with the latest accounts



Autotrip have raised equity finance twice with Crowdcube - from what appears to be 500 shareholders, they have a total raised of £490k. Or so we thought.


Looking at the latest filed accounts to YE Mar17, they appear to have virtually no equity finance - or £202 to be precise. This is some achievement considering last year they had £137,516. The latest confirmation statement confirms they still have 500 shareholders. 

A little odd.

We wrote about them before here 

In the so called accounts for YE Mar17, they declare a profit of over £250k which is clearly complete nonsense, given the fact that in that year they raised another £435k on Crowdcube, which as we know has not been shown. This might be a timing issue but the original share cap of £137,516 has vanished. In fact, figures from the previous year show that the latest accounts are totally wrong.

So either they have filed false accounts or they haven't a clue how to file accounts - possibly both. If I was one of the 500, I would like to know either way. Accounts are important for companies - even in this crazy world. 

Alexander Nicholson, the lead in both Crowdcube raises, has resigned. Hmmm.

7 comments:

  1. Hi Rob!

    This is a firm in turnaround, who have never claimed a profit, let alone £250k. Not sure where you got that figure from.

    Alex was tested by the incubator and found wanting (which was always obvious to me), but the company is sound, has a great interim MD, and is now making progress. As with all ECF, anyone who judges before ten years is a novice, but sometimes novices are right, and sometimes experience is right. I know it's not great for blogging, but see you in 2028!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Taken from your Crowdcube pitch 'The Company has a fully functional product that is currently used by 7 organizations' so you were lying?

      Accounts field at CH show a change in the P&L account from £-111k in 2015 to £ 144,644 ie a positive movement of over £250k. Where else does this come from?

      If your new MD signed this off then you need yet another as he has clearly entered false accounts - the sums are muddles up with the Called Up Share Capital account - as our article states.

      Most ECF companies never get to 10yrs - as a statement of fact none have so far. Your Crowdcube pitch never mentioned 10 years so you were lying again? Too ridiculous to bother with. Learn some basic business skills then try again.

      Of course you may turn this around but it would help give confidence to this ambition if you could get the basics right.

      Delete
    2. Sorry those accounts are for 16 and 17 not 15 and 16.

      Delete
    3. Ah.... now we get it. This post by Anon is most probably the work of James Ian Finlayson, an Ozzy entrepreneur who seems to have bought Autotrip. All the original crew have resigned. Being from OZ that might explain why the accounts are upside down.

      Delete
  2. Ha ha - you are funny, Rob! Nope - I'm definitely not James, although I have met him. I don't even represent AutoTrip, so not sure what I'm lying about. He seems like an excellent guy. Not sure how racism will help you. He has not bought the company, although he always was a large shareholder.

    The original crew have not resigned - just Alex and a junior BD guy as far as I know. Now that James is in place, I would expect the "basics" to be sorted out quickly.

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    Replies
    1. James Finlayson was not always a large shareholder - check the filings. He is not on the list at all?

      Delete
  3. Let us get some facts straight -

    1. Original crew - Byrne and Nicholson have left and two newer dircetors have also resigned.

    2. James Finlayson signed off the accounts in question!

    ReplyDelete