WORLDCHOICE has scaled down its acquisition of shops
and greenfield sites following the US terrorist attacks – despite the opportunity
to buy agencies at bargain prices.
Worldchoice Enterprises – the subsidiary set up to
administer the consortium’s shareholder scheme – has been approached by an
increasing number of its own members and other consortia keen to sell up.
But Worldchoice Enterprises managing director Keith
Wilson said potential sites were being cherry-picked, with 10 rather than the
expected 15 agencies bought in the first year. Plans to buy four or five
greenfield sites for new construction have also been cut back.
“We are taking a prudent approach and only considering
businesses that have got a good track record of profitability,” said Wilson.
“We realise there are some bargains to be had but we do not want to buy
ourselves a headache.”
Worldchoice Enterprises has collected about £750,000
of the £1.1 million in shares from members to fund the scheme.
It has already identified three shops likely to be
taken over in December and January. The first has a turnover of £3 million and
Worldchoice plans to add a foreign exchange unit, to be run by a separate
company with a percentage of the profits going to the consortium.
The scaling back comes as the board prepares to
announce a new director following the resignation of former managing director
Julian Foster over the shareholder scheme.
Foster said: “It is good they have pulled back because
it would be too risky. But it means they will have a difficult task to make any
money
for shareholders.”
The result of the election
contest between chairman Colin Heal and Northern Ireland chairman Bryan Somers
was due today.