FEBRUARY 18, 2003

The liquidation of Arrows

The disposable assets of the Arrows Formula 1 team will be auctioned in about a month and could provide a welcome chance for F1 teams to pick up bits and pieces that they need without having to spend too much to do it. At the same time the money raised may help to pay the unpaid salaries of some of the team's former employees who were left high and dry when the team went bust. But as unsecured creditors the staff will be at the back of the queue for money. Most of the company's assets went to secured creditor HSBC. The Bedford windtunnel is mortgaged to the Bank of Wales although there is believed to be some doubt that it was ever paid for and so the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, the previous owner of the windtunnel, may have a claim.