On CL this week that Ian Dowie had suffered a heart attack recently, fortunately he's recovered well.
Sorry to hear about Dowie's heart trouble. Was a useless gaffer for us, but I'm sure fans will wish him well in these circumstances.
Dowie's bankruptcy might be related to his heart problems. When some people become seriously ill they may lose the ability to earn, yet still have outgoings that they then cannot cover. I don't know the details. If his running out of money was not related to his health, then tough luck. If there is a link, I feel sorry for him.
The thing is with cases like this all too often it's the creditors that are hurt more than the person who has gone bankrupt. People jump to the conclusion that you are on the bones of your a*** because you have been declared bankrupt.
True. Which is why it's no laughing matter really. I don't know who Bootface owes money to - quite possibly the tax man, as poor old Jimbo did - to the tune of £700,000. But if it is owed to small businesses that is even worse. We used to have Debters' Prisons, but I think they went out around the same time as highwaymen and bear baiting.
I saw the debris of this first hand. In 2004 the building company I was working for folded. The weeks leading upto this it became well known things were not good, the building game is a bit niche and a close knit industry. Anyway, creditors were visiting the company and things were a bit fraught at times. I later found out the boss, who I worked directly with, went down owing 700k and took a business down with him whilst he ultimately done a runner up North. He didn't give a f***, strange as he always treated me well and I never had a fall out with him.
The small company I once worked for was wound up by it's owner before he had to, strictly speaking. I agreed with his reasons, though it was a bitter pill to swallow after 21 years. He knew a time was coming when we would be unable to pay suppliers who would then suffer, through no fault of their own. So he pulled the plug. I won't name him, but he is a descendent of one of the greatest Englishmen who ever lived - Admiral Lord Nelson. It was an honour to work for him. A man of integrity. None of the workforce held the decision against him.
My boss was different, as you can tell from my post, coupled with that even 7 days before we were told we no longer had a job he kept telling the staff things will be sorted. He even told his father-in-law this who worked for the firm!
