Notes from the North: Investigating The 79th Group, Lancashire to abolish itself and a major food bank at risk
All the highlights from our exclusive reporting as part of The Lead North, including on the case of an investment implosion in Southport
It takes some neck to invest £1m in a mining company when you’ve already been raided by anti-fraud police.
Jamie’s reporting in Southport this week is rooted in Sefton but has impact around the world.
We also update on local government reorganisation - and the odd situation where councils are asked to put forward their view on the best way to abolish themselves. The final decision comes from government, but it’s unsurprising so many are against it - and campaigning hard.
And finally, a crucial food bank in Blackpool is under the threat of closure despite being more needed than ever.
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Each week on The Lead our senior editor for The Lead North, Luke Beardsworth, highlights some of the stories we’ve been breaking exclusively, covering extensively and staying the course on to ensure communities have access to verified independent journalism. If you have any stories you think we should be covering, or tip-offs, you can contact luke@thelead.uk
Firm completed £1m share investment in mining business weeks before collapse
The operators of an alleged Ponzi scheme completed a £1m investment in a mining company months after being raided by anti-fraud police and weeks before calling in administrators.
The 79th Group, which sold unregulated loan notes to investors in exchange for promises of high returns, ran an international operation from a base at Southport Business Park and attracted hundreds of millions of pounds from investors. Its operation spread as far as the Middle East, Canada and USA and its developments including controversial sites in the UK and African gold mines.
However, the City of London Police raided the business in January, making multiple arrests and seizing assets including cash and jewellery. The business - which was spread across dozens of interconnected entities but appeared to pool funds across them - entered administration in May having become unable to continue its operations amid the investigation.
As previously reported by The Southport Lead, the company owes people more than £200 million and it is suspected of being one of the largest Ponzi schemes ever seen in the UK. Meanwhile, it is understood that two development sites which were used to attract investors were never actually bought by the company.
Lancashire County Council decides the best way to abolish itself
Lancashire County Council will tell the government that just two new local authorities should be created to replace the 15 that currently exist across Lancashire, as part of a radical shake-up being ordered by ministers.
County Hall’s ruling Reform UK group backed the establishment of standalone North Lancashire and South Lancashire councils at a meeting about the future shape of local government in the county.
The proposal will be submitted this week – once it has been ratified by cabinet members – in response to a request from the government for suggestions about how to streamline Lancashire’s local authority system.
However, Whitehall will also be asked to delay the creation of the new authorities by at least a year – until 2029 at the earliest – amid warnings that the planned timetable would cause “chaos” within key local services.
Blackpool’s foodbank of foodbanks - which provides more than 17,000 meals per week - in danger of closure
Blackpool’s “foodbank of foodbanks” - which supplies 120 foodbanks, schools, homeless shelters, soup kitchens and families across the Fylde coast - is in danger of shutting down.
The Big Food Project, which began life as the Blackpool Food Bank in 2012 and rebranded about 18 months ago, is busier than ever, now providing more than 17,000 meals a week.
“However, without securing vital funding in the next few months to pay for our basic operating costs, it will be difficult to see how we can continue,” chief executive Claire Powell said.
In an exclusive interview with The Blackpool Lead, Claire said the service, which is run by six workers and around 150 volunteers from its base on the Whitehills Industrial Estate, is needed by a widening range of people living in one of the country’s poorest towns.
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