National man's firm goes under

By SIMON COLLINS

A company managed by National Party Northcote candidate Jeremy Sole was placed into liquidation the day after he was selected as the candidate, with net losses of $85,000.

The company, Friedman Group NZ, provided retail training for major retailers such as Bond and Bond, Noel Leeming, Glassons and Michael Hill Jewellers.

Northcote Labour MP Ann Hartley said Mr Sole should have disclosed the company's position to the 60 National Party delegates who chose him as their candidate on December 17 last year.

"His whole credibility is around being general manager of an international marketing company. That's how he got the nomination," she said.

But Mr Sole said the company's owner, Dennis Reid, a New Zealander now living in Britain, decided to close the company only after his manager was selected as the Northcote candidate.

"I spent the whole of last year trying to keep the NZ office open because they wanted to withdraw back to Australia," he said.

"The final straw was when I told him I had been selected for National and was going into politics, and Dennis said, 'What's the point?'."

The directors of the New Zealand company were Mr Reid and his wife, Claire Marie Reid.

Mr Reid has not responded to email and telephone messages from the Herald.

An initial report to creditors from liquidator Mike Lamacraft said the directors decided to liquidate the company "as a result of a downturn in revenue coupled with the departure of key staff".

He said the Inland Revenue Department was owed $37,577 at the time of the liquidation on December 18, and would get about $16,000 from the sale of the company's assets.

Other unsecured creditors, who were owed $78,670, would get nothing.

The directors would lose their paid-up capital of $1000.

Mr Lamacraft said Mr Sole had been "very helpful" in sorting out the company's affairs.

"I don't think there was any wrongdoing, certainly not on Jeremy's part in my view," he said.

The largest private creditor, Daryl Hughes, said the company owed him $35,000 for marketing work he did for the New Zealand and Australian branches of the group.

He said the group's Australian company advertised training courses in New Zealand in the May issue of NZ Retail magazine, using a slightly altered advertisement which he had created for the group last year.

"That doesn't leave a pleasant taste," he said.

He said the company was effectively run by Mr Reid, and Mr Sole "was the manager in title alone".

Mr Hughes described Mr Sole as "among the best business trainers I have worked with".

He is now a volunteer worker in Mr Sole's campaign team.

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