AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

Campaign of hate

1st July 1993, Page 34
1st July 1993
Page 34
Page 34, 1st July 1993 — Campaign of hate
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Keywords : Daredevil

Sorneone has it in for Barry Fisk. Eight vehicles in his family-run LGV training school, Wildern, have suffered repeated attacks including smashed windscreens and wrecked transmissions.

He claims his operation has also been the subject of a malicious whispering campaign by rivals since the beginning of last year which led to the withdrawal of a three-year Ministry of Defence contract worth 11.5m. There is no evidence that the vehicle attacks and the whispering campaign are connected.

Fisk is no longer a director of Wildern, based in Botley, Hants. After amassing debts of more than £100,000, including £17,000 in VAT arrears, he was declared bankrupt last month and his house could be repossessed.

The 22-year-old firm was relaunched in December as Abba Wildern, with Fisk's daughter Denise as the main director.

Fisk says his debts built up to unmanageable proportions because he invested heavily in equipment to cope with the MoD contract, placed by its Contracts, Stores and Logistics division in Glasgow.

When the MoD withdrew the contract unexpectedly, Fisk faced personal ruin. "The MoD told me they withdrew the work because of malicious complaints they received regarding the standard of our vehicles, amounting to three or four telephone calls a week," says Fisk. He considered suing the MoD but was put of by the financial risk.

The MoD would not tell CM exactly why it withdrew the contract so soon after placing it, explaining that it is not policy to release information covered by its policy of "Commercial-in-Confidence". But it denies being influenced by a whispering campaign. "I can assure you the decision to cease trading with Mr Fisk's company was not taken as a result of complaints from his rivals," says Laurie Creechan, director of Contracts, Stores and Logistics.

The late-night attacks on Wildern's vehicles began in January of last year, when his operating centre was based next to Swanwick Railway Station. The attacks intensified after November 1992, with the same vehicles repeatedly targeted. British Transport Police have so far failed to arrest the culprits.

"The damage has been horrendous," says Fisk, who showed CMa vehicle with a smashed windscreen. All eight vehicles have had steering and ignition systems wrecked or superglued in attempts to demobilise them,

Sand and sugar have been added to the diesel tanks; 53 batteries have been stolen and in one case a steering wheel was ripped out. "Every single window has been smashed three times in the past six months," says Fisk, adding that his third-party insurance does not cover acts of vandalism, He estimates the cost of the damage at up to ,£30,000.

Fisk alleges that rival driving schools have told customers that his instructors are on the dole and unqualified; allegations which he


comments powered by Disqus