Sefton Group bosses have appeared before the Economic Policy Review Committee to give evidence regarding the recently announced government support for the Group.
Group chairman, Sir Miles Walker, and chief executive Brett Martin answered questions from the committee, comprising Dudley Butt MLC, Leonard Singer MHK and Michael Coleman MLC.
A £1.3 million taxpayer-funded bail-out, as well as a £3.2 million deal for the government to purchase and lease back the Middlemarch site to the Sefton Group have caused controversy.
Asked why they did not sell the site on the open market, Sir Miles answered: ‘We didn’t want to prejudice our ownership by selling away from government, as with them, there was the possibility of a buyback.’
Sir Miles told the committee: ‘When I became chairman in 2010 it was clear we had a lot of debt with Lloyds Banking Group, but we had their support and worked with them to reduce the debt.
‘By 2011 the debt was down significantly but it was obvious Lloyds were looking for a way out.
‘We looked at the Middlemarch site for the best way to get equity and approached the government to see if they were interested in purchasing it in July 2012.