Halliwells to appoint administrator; BLG and Hill Dicks vie for assets

Readers' comments (57)

• Insider | 25-Jun-2010 10:07 pm

  Well done to the management team that took the view that it was a good idea to take £21M out of the Firm immediately prior to the much anticipated downturn. Your greedy stupidity has resulted in a number of decent hard working people to default on their mortgages and have money worries for years to come. You should hang your heads in shame. Of course you will not even give them a second thought. All those who took the money should hang their heads in shame. Greedy stupid selfish spivs. I wonder whether the administrator looks at the reverse premium fiasco. I suppose it depends on whether he is truly independent or a "in and out" merchant brought in by his mates.

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• Anonymous | 25-Jun-2010 10:09 pm

  On reading about this I was put in mind of the great William Golding and his work "The Spire". This was a tale of the hubris of a provincial priest who stuck an unfeasbly large and unwieldy spire on an unsuitable church that was built on reed foundations. Of course the whole building collapsed. The provincial priest claimed that his actions were to the greater glory of God. They were, of course, always to the greater glory of him. Spinningfields is Halliwells' spire. I have observed some of the comments on this board. I know that there are many good people there who did not deserve this embarrassment.

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• Laura Biding Citizen | 25-Jun-2010 10:21 pm

  I was likewise told that the firm was "solid" and "too big to fail". Monumental greed, arrogance and incompetence at senior/management level has choked the life out of a once fine firm. The day of reckoning with director disquals and worse lies in wait.

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• Anonymous | 25-Jun-2010 10:48 pm

  I worked in london and witnessed the outright greed first hand. The partners know who they are.

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• Fellow professional | 25-Jun-2010 11:55 pm

  I am not surprised that Halliwells have succumbed to their knees and the banks have called time on their ‘debts’. Oh the irony that it is RBS that is instigating this administration.
  I have a reliable source who has informed me that this demise could have been prevented had it not been for the greed of the partners who believed in short term hedonistic gains and lavish offices rather than pragmatic and prudent investment for the future. I have met staff at Halliwells some who are decent professionals but the majority are so arrogant that they believe they are superior to everyone else.
  Having been through redundancy in an top 10 accountancy firm myself I understand the emotional strains and stresses one has to endure. My sympathy are to those decent, honest, ambitious and genuine professionals who will now have to consider looking for another job.
  The winners of this disaster will of course be their competitors. I say well done to the other firms who were pragmatic and shrewd with their monies in the good times. Let this be a lesson to the other law/accountancy firms.

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• Anonymous | 26-Jun-2010 7:55 am

  The whole firm has been brought down by the greed of a few who swooped in, took as much as they could and then left. They should be named and shamed.
  Hundreds of people are going to lose their jobs and livelihoods. It's all very well saying that th firm as a whole were "unpleasant" but show a little sympathy for the employees who have played no part in their downfall.

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• Anonymous | 26-Jun-2010 9:11 am

  As others have pointed out - there are very few people with a good word to say about Halliwells and their fall seems to have been accelerated by greed, arrogance and aggression.
  
  I'm currently reading "How The Mighty Fall" by the great Business writer Jim Collins. He identifies the 1st 3 steps in corporate faliures as being Hubris Born of Sucess, which "kicks in when people become arogant"; Undisciplined Pursuit of More (Spinningfields anyone?) and Denial of Risk and Peril - I noticed a new appointment at Halliwells only last week (poor soul). I supose Halliwells provides a great example of these steps.
  
  As for next steps: Whilst BLG have had their problems, they maintain a reputation for better end Insurance work. What remains at Halliwells looks more like knockabut RTA/EL/PL stuff. Meanwhile Hill Dick Partners must be licking their lips at the prospect of what such an acquisition will do to PEP. Whilst Halliwells will have different clients to HD and higher levels of penetration in certain accounts, there will be considerable overlap in client bases and I suspec t this will be a case of 2+2 = 3, rather than 2+2 = 5. That is to say, the extra staff/Partner costs will probably not be justified by a proportionaly high leap in turnover.

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• Anonymous | 26-Jun-2010 10:22 am

  Its the suppliers who will feel it first, thank god we got shafted by a rival supplier. Its probably saved our business, what comes around goes around. You know who you are.

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• Anonymous | 26-Jun-2010 7:17 pm

  Greed !!

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• Anonymous | 26-Jun-2010 7:21 pm

  Greed plays a big part in this.

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