Vie are not behind Finlay, says Jim Ha
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
m by Melanie Hammond
Jim Hay, the director of the "now you see it, now you don't" Scottish firm Eye plc, has hit back at his critics. claiming that he has been subjected to a "witch hunt"—and denying trenuously that he has any part in the running of Finlay Fitly Transport.
Commercial Motor managed ) contact Hay at the same time as it emerged that Finlay Guy is t) face a public inquiry on 12 September. The hearing has been prompted by representations made against its application for an Operator's Licence for its Haddington site in East Lothian. The firm will have to convince the Traffic Commissioner that it is of good repute. Two weeks ago CM reported that there were links between the Hays—also directors of failed firm John Adams 8. Sons—and Finlay Guy (CM 16-22 August). One of the directors listed for Finlay, Margaret Hunter Meiklem, is Hazel Hay's mother, and Jim Hay admits that his wife is now employed as Finlay Guy's accountant.
Nevertheless Hay is adamant that neither he nor his wife has ever been involved in managing Finlay. He claims that the only connection between Eye and Finlay was that "they [Finlay Guy] were a sub-contractor" and one of the biggest creditors'.
His remarks will infuriate other creditors, who claim they are owed thousands by Eye and are convinced the Hays are behind Finlay Guy. One of them describes Hay as "worse than a bank robber".
But flay says: "I am really tired of having to defend myself for something I'm not guilty of. Setting up Eye was for everybody's good—a phoenix was exactly what it wasn't. With the 14-day payment terms, it's not a situation where bills are five or six months old.
We tried to turn things around, but the industry and trade associations didn't allow the business to flourish. There's been a real witch hunt.
"I sympathise [with those owed money]," he concludes. "No-one feels worse than me."