DTI probes Non-League Media collapse

Publisher put up for sale after court battle with ousted chairman

The Department of Trade and Industry is investigating the events leading to the collapse of Non-League Media, the publishing company that counts the Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson as its president.

Non-League Media went into administration in June following "accounting irregularities" and a court battle with its former chairman, Graham Gutteridge.

Last week its assets – The Non-League Paper, a magazine and directory of the same name, and the women's football magazine She Kicks – were put up for sale by the administrators Hurst Morrison Thompson, after a failed attempt to raise more funding. The total price tag is understood to be less than £1m.

Gareth Roberts, one of the administrators, said that more than 20 parties had expressed an interest in the businesses.

Non-League Media was asked to give documents to the DTI in May, under Section 447 of the Companies Act. Mr Roberts said that he was aware a DTI investigation was underway but that he had not spoken to the Department. He will be filing a report for the DTI on the conduct of the directors within the next four months.

A DTI spokesperson said it never commented on investigations. But a statement on the Department's website reads: "Investigations under section 447 are confidential and allow suspicions of misconduct to be looked at without risk of harming the company... If it is in the public interest the Secretary of State may use the information obtained to petition the Court to wind up the company or to disqualify the directors."

Mr Gutteridge was ousted as chairman by the other directors, who included Sir Bobby, in November last year following the suspension of the company's shares on the Alternative Investment Market. Non-League Media later announced that the former chairman had sold shares in the company without informing it of the transaction.

Last year Non-League Media revealed that its 2000 accounts had been mis-stated. The inaccuracies were related to loans between the company and Eye Group, which had Mr Gutteridge as a director at the time.

Non-League Media said that around half of a £569,000 loan had not been reflected in the accounts, and that a similar amount had been channelled through another company and then used to buy a house acquired by Mr Gutteridge's wife. Bracken Partners, a venture capital firm that is a shareholder of Eye Group, issued a freezing order on the assets of Mr Gutteridge, as well as a writ, in an attempt to reclaim the money. However, the case was settled out of court.

Non-League Media had said the company could reach profitability early this year as long as Eye Group paid back the money owed. Mr Gutteridge said he could not comment on whether this had occurred, because of the settlement's confidentiality agreements. He said he had not been contacted by the DTI.

Jonathan Stobart, the finance director of Non-League Media, who discovered some of the irregularities, declined to comment.