New findings from 79th Group administrators as directors launch legal action
It is expected to take years for the company's affairs to be fully understood
Hello and welcome to today’s edition of The Southport Lead.
Fourteen months have passed since police carried out a series of raids at The 79th Group and it is expected to be years until the full ramifications of that are seen.
We’ve previously reported on findings including a £1m purchase of carried out weeks before administrators were called in and the fact the company never owned two flagship property development sites for which it attracted investment.
Today’s edition looks at the latest findings and activity in recent months, which includes the sale of those shares, the enforced bankruptcy of the directors, and their attempt to challenge the warrants which led to the initial raids and arrests. Read on for the full story.
Southport briefing
🐝 A charity created in memory of Southport attack victim Bebe King can open a specialised support hub in the town centre after winning planning permission. Bebe’s Hive will operate from the former Sefton Council One Stop Shop in Cambridge Arcade and is in the process of transforming the unit into a welcoming space which will serve as a creative, child-led healing for bereaved children, focusing on love, memory, and connection. In its planning application, Bebe’s Hive states that the hub will be a “safe place where little hearts can heal after loss.” The project also said that it is designed to be private and closed to the public, adding: “At Bebe’s Hive CIC, our gentle, creative child grief support aims to help children find comfort, express their feelings and begin to heal – turning love and memory into something beautiful through art, play and imagination.” The plans involve adding an activity and education space, therapy rooms and sensory rooms inside the premises, but the appearance of the listed façade will be retained. Bebe’s Hive said that it is significant for the organisation that the support hub is also very close to the Town Hall gardens, which are set to undergo a £10m redevelopment to create an open-air performance and gathering space in a redesign which has involved the families of the three girls. The charity told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it is now working with local architects and construction firms on the final designs for the hub.
📃 Sefton Council says is working with healthcare partners on a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) improvement plan and on the recruitment of new educational psychologists after an Ofsted inspection identified delays in child assessments. The inspection marked an improvement on the previous one in 2019 but found that children with SEND have inconsistent experiences and outcomes. In February, the council ran a recruitment campaign for educational psychologists, which was unsuccessful, but it said that work is ongoing to address the issue. In a meeting of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday evening, Cllr Diane Roscoe, said there is a national issue with the training of educational psychologists affecting other areas as well as Sefton. Elsewhere, a new report published by the council shows that 46.8% of EHCPs it issued were delivered within the required 20-week timeframe in 2025, a 2.3% decrease on the previous year. However, this proportion is just above the national average of 46.4%. The council’s SEND improvement plan, which is being worked on with partners, will be submitted to the Department for Education on June 19. The proposals will be discussed at the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting.
👉 Sefton residents are being asked to volunteer welcoming visitors when The Open comes to the Royal Birkdale Golf Club next month. The event will bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to Southport and friendly and enthusiastic volunteers are wanted to help the Open Help team by providing directions, sharing local knowledge and assisting with the smooth flow of people around key locations. Volunteer roles will be given shifts of up to six hours and be based at off‑course locations, including transport hubs, Park & Ride sites, walking routes and course access points. Cllr Marion Atkinson, Leader of Sefton Council, said: “The Open Championship is a globally recognised event and a fantastic opportunity to showcase Sefton and Southport at its very best. Our Open Host volunteers play a vital role in creating a warm and welcoming experience for the thousands of visitors who will join us from around the world. I would encourage anyone who is passionate about their local area and enjoys meeting people to get involved and be part of this truly special event.” Last year’s winner of The Open pocketed £2.3m in prize money while the event is expected to result in an economic impact of around £300m across the region.
🔫 A Birkdale man was among four arrested after four guns were found in Merseyside woodland. Officers recovered two revolvers and two semi-automatic pistols off Northern Perimeter Road, Netherton, on Tuesday and all four have been forensically recovered to assess if they are available. After the discovery, a 21-year-old from Birkdale, a 22-year-old from Crosby, a 20 year-old from Netherton and a 21 year-old from Maghull were arrested on suspicion of possession of a prohibited firearm. The Birkdale man has since been released on conditional bail, while Paul Pilson, 21, of Kingfisher Gardens, Maghull and Reo Bradley, 22, of St William Way, Crosby have both been charged with conspiracy to possess firearms, namely prohibited weapons. Joel Lawson, 20, of Stonyfield, Netherton, has been charged with possession of cocaine with intent to supply.
New findings from 79th Group administrators as directors launch legal action
By Jamie Lopez
Investors in the collapsed Seventy Ninth Group are being warned it could take years to finish tackling the company’s affairs amid efforts to trace its international accounts and a legal challenge from its directors.
The international asset firm operated from headquarters at Southport Business Park and attracted investment for operations including property development and gold mining. Having grown from a small, family-run business it grew to have operations far beyond the UK, including Europe, the Middle East and Canada.
In February 2025, City of London Police (COLP) raided multiple properties connected to the business in February, resulting in four arrests and the seizure of cash, luxury watches and jewellery. The force said its investigation related to “suspected widespread fraud” involving the sale of unregulated loan notes to investors in exchange for promises of high returns. It has since been described as one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in UK history, though the directors insisted after the police raids that no wrongdoing had taken place.
The business collapsed into administration months after the arrests with more than £200m owed to investors. The Southport Lead subsequently reported that the company had completed a £1m investment in a mining company in the period between the raids and the start of administration.
The Southport Lead has also reported that the company’s complicated setup - which involved dozens of individually registered businesses using shared bank accounts - has left administrators with a huge challenge in unpicking its affairs. Among the initial discoveries were the fact that two development sites for which it attracted investors were never owned by the company.
Multiple sets of administrators have been appointed to deal with the complicated company affairs and in April an extension to the administration period was agreed, meaning the process can continue to run through to April 2028.
The latest report detailing their investigations was filed this week and among the new information, administrators from Quantuma Advisory Limited and Kroll Ltd explained they have now completed a sale of the shares in mining company First Class Metals PLC (FCM). The 41% stake was offloaded in two deals amassing a total of £1.022m and therefore recouping the initial investment. A further £24k was recouped by selling a company-owned vehicle which was in the possession of one of the directors.
Other deals include lending £300k to Seventy Ninth Air - a related company based in the Isle of Man whose administration is being handled by FRP Advisory. That money will be used to bring a private jet up to serviceable standards and achieve a better sale value.
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