Four former executives at Provident Financial, parent of subprime motor finance lender Moneybarn, have launched claims at the employment tribunal over their unfair dismissals, according to reports.
The Times has reported that Andy Parkinson, formerly managing director of Provident’s consumer credit division (CCD), is suing over his replacement, along with three other unnamed executives that were working below him.
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The Times has not mentioned sources for the story.
Previous to becoming operations and subsequently managing director for Provident, Parkinson worked as operations director for furniture hire provider BrightHouse.
Chris Gillespie, who was his predecessor at Provident, was brought in again to replace him in August 2017.
The CCD includes the Provident group’s Vanquis Bank credit card business, as well as its Satsuma and Provident home loan operations.
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By GlobalDataProvident would not comment on the report.
The alleged legal action is the latest challenge to Provident as it tries to recover from a botched restructuring of the CCD, which left it facing a £120m loss.
Just last Friday, the company said that David Sear, founder of merchant services provider Worldpay, would be leaving the board, after being brought in a year earlier to aid the company’s IT and payments development.
Group chief executive Peter Crook stepped down in August, forgoing a year of pay and bonuses, after the company put out a profit warning and withdrew its dividend payment plan.
Manjit Wolstenholme had then been brought in as executive chairman, with Gillespie’s appointment as her first major move.
However, Wolstenholme suddenly passed away in November. She was replaced ad interim by Malcolm Le May.
In December, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed that it was investigating Provident’s Moneybarn business over its affordability assessment and its treatment of customers in financial trouble. The FCA had already been investigating Vanquis’s credit card business since August over one of its repayment plans. Both investigations remain ongoing.
Despite its parent’s woes, and a tightened underwriting and impairment policy, Moneybarn reported in September that its business was growing, with customer numbers up 25% receivables up 26% to £362m.
