On Monday, the Guardian told you how vintage British motorcycle brand Norton had become a vehicle for a multimillion-pound pension scam. Today: the investigation continues.
Investigative reporter Simon Goodley tells Nosheen Iqbal how Stuart Garner’s stewardship of Norton came with huge amounts of publicity. He courted politicians and Hollywood stars. All the while, the business was struggling to do the basics of motorcycle manufacturing. A glimpse at the company’s accounts from 2013 appear to show that the bulk of the company’s cashflow was coming directly from investors in its pension scheme, not motorbike sales. When the business eventually collapsed, it cost those investors their life savings.
Garner has always denied wrongdoing and did not respond to invitations to be interviewed.
On Monday, Sir Stephen Timms MP, the chair of the work and pensions committee, said he was launching an inquiry into how watchdogs and prosecutors handled the Norton case in which £10m of pension savings disappeared.
Norton Motorcycles is now under new ownership after being bought out of administration in 2020.
Photograph: sunugal/Alamy
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