Phil's company owed half-million when it went bust

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Phil's company owed half-million when it went bust
Phil's company owed half-million when it went bust (Image credit: Doug Peters/PA Photos)

Location, Location, Location presenter Phil Spencer isn't immune to the effects of the recession - his failed company owed more than £500,000 when it went bust. The Daily Mirror reports that the Channel 4 property expert's firm, Garrington Home Finders, owed creditors £576,052 when it collapsed in February. GHF helped wealthy clients including Kylie and Keira Knightley find new homes, but managed to complete just one deal in the final quarter of 2008. Creditors included Lloyds TSB, owed £141,400, landlords Chelsea Harbour Ltd, owed £21,218 and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, £4,534 out of pocket. The taxman is owed £185,000 and GHF also has outstanding debts with BT, EDF Energy, E-on Energy and its stationery suppliers. It also had a £170,000 overdraft at the Queen's bank Coutts when it went bust. There is no suggestion Spencer broke any laws, but as a matter of routine his actions will be investigated by the administrators. Phil, 39, had been paying GHF's 10 staff out of his own pocket in a desperate fight to keep the project going. When GHF went into administration in February, Phil said: "I have, together with others, fought tooth and nail to keep the company alive and keep everyone in jobs." Get exclusive access to your favourite stars. Subscribe to TV Times magazine

Patrick McLennan
Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.