Laurence Bassini was Bazini before bankruptcy (From Watford Observer)
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Watford's potential investor changed his name from Laurence Bazini to Bassini due to bankruptcy
10:10am Friday 18th February 2011 in Sport
Exclusive By Frank Smith, Deputy Group Sports Editor
Laurence Bassini was Bazini before bankruptcy
Watford's potential new investor Laurence Bassini has confirmed he did change his name after being declared bankrupt.
Last week the Watford Observer revealed Bassini and his close friend Panos Thomas were the potential investors currently in talks with Watford's major shareholders over a potential takeover.
One concern among supporters this week has been the confusion surrounding whether Bassini was in fact Laurence Bazini, who was made bankrupt in 2007.
The 40-year-old confirmed his name was spelt Bazini previously and that he changed the spelling because of the bankruptcy.
Bassini said: “The reason for the change was four years ago my father found a hotel which I invested in quite heavily and helped him with it.
“It just didn't work out how it should have, he left to do other things and I was left to deal with it all.
“I tried everything to save it but I didn't and it lost several million pounds. As a result I had to go bankrupt. I was bankrupt for about a year.
“Businessmen have their highs and lows, that was a low at that time for me. After the bankruptcy, people say things so I changed my name to have a fresh start. That was the reason for it.
“I haven't changed it by very much, I just changed it that way because at that time it was what I wanted to do.”
The hotel was the Fox at Ibstone near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, which is now the Fox Country Inn.
Bassini confirmed he had been on benefits after the bankruptcy but insists it was only for a brief period.
He said: “When I was bankrupt there was a period when I was on benefits, as I said there are highs and lows in a businessman's personal life and in business.
“It was for several months, maybe five or six months but it was a short time.”
Bassini said he was from a wealthy family and that they played a big part in helping him as he tried to start again. But stated his family is not currently part of any proposed takeover.
“If we make an offer and I need something from the family then they may help but generally no [they are not involved],” Bassini said.
“I come from a very wealthy and successful family. I have a brother who is a barrister, I have a brother who is in the perfume world, has a branded perfume name and it is very successful and I have a brother who is a graphic designer.
“So I had the family's support when I needed it and if I needed money and I was able to go out and trade and things I needed to do to make money again.
“I have had people around me who I have done business with who have supported me if I needed it.”
More to come from the Watford Observer's exclusive interview with Laurence Bassini later today.
Comments(37)
Robert Peel
says...
10:19am Fri 18 Feb 11
Keeps having liquidated business and Daddy and his brothers have to bail him out.
Incompetent or a crook? Either way I am worried about WFC if he gets on board.
WE8BR
says...
10:34am Fri 18 Feb 11
PurpleRalph
says...
10:38am Fri 18 Feb 11
Steve, Abbots Langley
says...
10:44am Fri 18 Feb 11
N Joydegame
says...
10:47am Fri 18 Feb 11
is has got a really, really bad smell about it.
This isn't about investing into the club to secure the clubs future, this is about investing into a venture where they can smell profit.
Walk away WFC. This is not what we the supporters, sesaon ticket holders, and small shareholders want.
dukehornet
says...
10:50am Fri 18 Feb 11
Feel very frustrated!
Similar to following Watford's fortunes for the past thirty years!
There was only one Scully
says...
10:56am Fri 18 Feb 11
In the real world no one would touch him.
(If so, can someone enlighten me how it can be done for, future use!)
pstannard1
says...
10:57am Fri 18 Feb 11
a1derek
says...
11:02am Fri 18 Feb 11
Is this really the best we can find after nearly a year?
I would be very, very nervous of this Guy who is being very evasive about his past and his future plans.
Elton Bog
says...
11:02am Fri 18 Feb 11
stevyweavy
says...
11:02am Fri 18 Feb 11
Would be interesting to find out how a man on benefits and bankrupt in 2007 now has funds to buy a Championship football club. Does he sell an e-book showing how it's done?
Sounds like a Glazier type of deal where they buy the shares by borrowing against the assets of the club - i.e. the ground - revolving credit which will go belly up once interest rates go up.
Disaster waiting to happen but as the current shareholders want away it is likely to happen - could be playing Luton in a few years time!!!
Garston Tony
says...
11:13am Fri 18 Feb 11
Derek Payne
says...
11:21am Fri 18 Feb 11
jalvin
says...
11:40am Fri 18 Feb 11
maybe we should give the Salad Siblings a call!
hhmmm i wonder if jack petchey has any of his millions left?!
Prof Plum
says...
11:45am Fri 18 Feb 11
Despite having family wealth to fall back on???
Whatever this chap's financial status he is already morally bankrupt in my eyes.
It's people like Bassini/Bazini that have brought this once proud nation etc etc etc
Goodbye Watford FC
Golferever
says...
11:53am Fri 18 Feb 11
He sees this as a potential Goldmine!!
How else do you go from Bankrupt to Owner in three years?
He obviously didn't worry about the Creditors in the Fox venture. He could AFFORD to go Bankrupt obviously!! Assets all nicely salted away and protected.
I certainly would not give him a chance to RUIN THIS CLUB, as he can only be interested in making money.
I feel sorry for his Potential "PARTNERS"-he will use THEIR money to do it!!
Roy Stockdill
says...
12:18pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Are we honest people who endeavour to live within our means and not owe money to others possibly the bigger mugs?
Robert Maxwell, Oxford Utd and Derby County come to mind, but other than that I couldn't possibly comment.
The time would seem to be approaching when there isn't a football club left in Britain that isn't owned by dodgy Americans, Arab sheiks, Russian billionaires or discharged bankrupts. What would dear old Bob Lord, the power behind the successful Burnley club in the 1960s have made of it all (if anyone here remembers him)?
SAHornet
says...
12:56pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Vernon Bogdanor
says...
1:09pm Fri 18 Feb 11
watters84
says...
1:29pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Elton Bog
says...
1:57pm Fri 18 Feb 11
watters84 wrote:For once I can agree wholeheartedly.
The worst thing that happened in this great country in the eighties etc was that people with no moral substance were conditioned to believe that turning a dollar was more important than how you did it! I would call this story bizarre but this creative speaker will probably use it for his next surname!!
Roy Stockdill
says...
2:13pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Curiously enough, at virtually the same time Mr Bazini went bankrupt at the Fox Inn, Ibstone (a notice appeared in the London Gazette, where such things are listed, in October 2007), a Valerie Bazini also went bankrupt after running a pub called the Old Red Lion in Northampton (London Gazetted in August 2007).
My genealogical knowledge of how to search births, marriages and deaths online leads me to the conclusion that Valerie Bazini was/is the second wife of Laurence Bazini's father, David, a silversmith, who came to this country from Israel and was granted naturalisation in April 1967. Thus, Valerie Bazini was/is Laurence Bazini's stepmother. Online electoral registers show a David and Valerie Bazini at the same address in Northampton, where they married in 1986.
David Bazini must indeed be a wealthy man if he was able to cope with his wife and a son both going bankrupt at the same time. Interesting that both involved pubs as well.
There is more.....
In today's paid-for WO, Laurence Bazini says he was involved 20 years ago with Phillip Green of British Home Stores in a company called PL Multitrade but says he wanted to leave the firm to do other things and left it to Green who later closed it. However, yet another London Gazette notice of 16 March 1994 announced the closure of PL Multitrade Ltd and that it was going into voluntary liquidation. The notice was signed by "L. Bazini". A previous notice on 18 February 1994, giving notice of a meeting of creditors, was signed by "L. Bazini, Director".
Finally, a Google search produces a Lawrence Bazini who was a joint applicant to open a club featuring male strippers for women audiences in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 2005. Perhaps not the same man...
watters84
says...
2:34pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Good Work Holmes!
luther blissett
says...
2:52pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Will he still be calling for Taylor out if this man is the likely outcome?
Constantly insisting for investment can take you out of the pan and into the fire.
WFC4ever
says...
3:44pm Fri 18 Feb 11
I am sure he'll have the best intentions for the club but previous records are a worry.
Not like he has just one one bad business venture it seems (ofcourse such failings may not be his fault..)
cliff46
says...
3:46pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Thank you for excellent item.
If you have been able to find this sort of information surely the Wat Obs Frank Smith should have done the same work rather than just publish Bassini's comments without questioning his background or motives.
Whilst I have absolutely no doubt that GT and Timberley would only give their blessing to a "decent" buyer the ultimate decision will be down to Lord Ashcroft who owns the bulk of the shares. If his only concern is to get his money back quickly we might well eventually find ourselves in very deep trouble.
Roy Stockdill
says...
3:52pm Fri 18 Feb 11
He appears to have a younger half-brother who plays rugby for Northampton Old Scouts RFC and a younger half-sister who plays hockey for Northampton Saints and Buckingham, both from his father's second marriage.
dukehornet
says...
4:07pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Roy Stockdill wrote:Do you think that GT, the board, Lord Ashscroft et al do not know this?
It's remarkable what you can discover online if you know where and how to look (as I do, being a onetime investigative journalist, now a genealogist). Everthing that follows is entirely from public records found with Google. Curiously enough, at virtually the same time Mr Bazini went bankrupt at the Fox Inn, Ibstone (a notice appeared in the London Gazette, where such things are listed, in October 2007), a Valerie Bazini also went bankrupt after running a pub called the Old Red Lion in Northampton (London Gazetted in August 2007). My genealogical knowledge of how to search births, marriages and deaths online leads me to the conclusion that Valerie Bazini was/is the second wife of Laurence Bazini's father, David, a silversmith, who came to this country from Israel and was granted naturalisation in April 1967. Thus, Valerie Bazini was/is Laurence Bazini's stepmother. Online electoral registers show a David and Valerie Bazini at the same address in Northampton, where they married in 1986. David Bazini must indeed be a wealthy man if he was able to cope with his wife and a son both going bankrupt at the same time. Interesting that both involved pubs as well. There is more..... In today's paid-for WO, Laurence Bazini says he was involved 20 years ago with Phillip Green of British Home Stores in a company called PL Multitrade but says he wanted to leave the firm to do other things and left it to Green who later closed it. However, yet another London Gazette notice of 16 March 1994 announced the closure of PL Multitrade Ltd and that it was going into voluntary liquidation. The notice was signed by "L. Bazini". A previous notice on 18 February 1994, giving notice of a meeting of creditors, was signed by "L. Bazini, Director". Finally, a Google search produces a Lawrence Bazini who was a joint applicant to open a club featuring male strippers for women audiences in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 2005. Perhaps not the same man...
They do not just sit on their backsides and let any old Tom, Dick or Harry enter the frame for a potential takeover.
And if these two guys are as bad as a lot of people are making out on this forum, why would they go full frontal with the Wobby?
Let the true facts emerge.
Because of LSE rules, certain things cannot be discussed yet.
A lot of people are jumping to un-necessary conclusions.
If they are rogues, they will be found out in due course like the other fraudsters were.
Give it some time and breathing space for heaven's sake, and not jump to conclusions based on one interview with the WO.
Roy Stockdill
says...
4:55pm Fri 18 Feb 11
I was simply pointing out that there are certain things to do with himself and his family that Mr Bazini has glossed over or left out of his two-page interview with the Observer today.
I make no observations or conclusions, I simply report facts that are available in public records.
N Joydegame
says...
6:12pm Fri 18 Feb 11
By the way I do remember Bob Lord. He was a grumpy old throw-back Chairman, who wore a trilby hat and ruled Burnley with a rod of iron. He was a real 'no nonsense'type who got up alot of peoples noses. However you are right about him being high minded for all the right football reasons.
taniac
says...
10:24pm Sat 19 Feb 11
.
The fact that the guy was bankrupt 3 years ago means nothing, every high profile businessman has either gone bust personally or one of his companies have. Donald Trump springs to mind.
at aged twenty something this man was in business with Philip Green. not bad for a kid.
but lets look at the alternative, we have a billionnaire owner with no interest in football who loaned us 8,9 million for one year when he knew we could never pay it back.
lets get serious we are just a bad investment to him. I would rather have a local guy who gives a **** about football and will give it a go than a billionnaire who doersn't give a **** and lives in belize and doesn't pay tax. he could have put 20 million in and we would have gone up under malky. but he doesn't want us, he put us up for sale like a cheap tart on a street corner. anyone could have a go.
i know i am on my soap box, but we complained about the veggie boys who put their money on the table untill ashcrafty kicked them off the board.
footvall is high risk and this guy has to fund the end of season shortfall which must be a few million. remeber julian openly said we had to sell a player in january for cashflow. did anyone not notice we didn't sell.
so lets not think we are a catch, we have an ugly stadium, depleted squad and an owner who doesn't want us but had the front to kick off the board the two vegies who did want us. so we are getting what we deserve.
that said i will go to every game, do the math every week , go on the bbc predictor and see if wed can make the playoffs, regardless of who is in charge. cos thats FOOTBALL
There was only one Scully
says...
1:21am Sun 20 Feb 11
Time will tell.
taniac
says...
8:52am Sun 20 Feb 11
There was only one Scully wrote:i quite agree with you. whats the worst that can happen he sticks a few million into the club , lowers the level of debt and we are in a better position financially. the board and bond holders would have sought guarantees regarding money. they are not stupid its a Public company unlike portsmouth etc
Trouble is there is an element of what you sow you shall reap about all this. Not sure what though, he will be sowing into the club to let us grow! Time will tell.
footy5722
says...
10:29am Sun 20 Feb 11
taniac wrote:If no one else praises you, got to do it yourself, hey bassini?
i have to say i am quite taken by his honesty. he has been upfront about his situation and he did say that he wanted to change his name to what i see as a way to draw a line under a bad period, i would consider doing the same
.
The fact that the guy was bankrupt 3 years ago means nothing, every high profile businessman has either gone bust personally or one of his companies have. Donald Trump springs to mind.
at aged twenty something this man was in business with Philip Green. not bad for a kid.
but lets look at the alternative, we have a billionnaire owner with no interest in football who loaned us 8,9 million for one year when he knew we could never pay it back.
lets get serious we are just a bad investment to him. I would rather have a local guy who gives a **** about football and will give it a go than a billionnaire who doersn't give a **** and lives in belize and doesn't pay tax. he could have put 20 million in and we would have gone up under malky. but he doesn't want us, he put us up for sale like a cheap tart on a street corner. anyone could have a go.
i know i am on my soap box, but we complained about the veggie boys who put their money on the table untill ashcrafty kicked them off the board.
footvall is high risk and this guy has to fund the end of season shortfall which must be a few million. remeber julian openly said we had to sell a player in january for cashflow. did anyone not notice we didn't sell.
so lets not think we are a catch, we have an ugly stadium, depleted squad and an owner who doesn't want us but had the front to kick off the board the two vegies who did want us. so we are getting what we deserve.
that said i will go to every game, do the math every week , go on the bbc predictor and see if wed can make the playoffs, regardless of who is in charge. cos thats FOOTBALL
taniac
says...
3:32pm Sun 20 Feb 11
I don't feel the need to defend him, I just want us to come out of limbo and stop talking about this potential buyer , that one etc as we have been doing for a year. lets get an identity, in the old days when the man elton owned us we were eltons watford. everyone knew what we were about. i hate the fact we have a hundreds of shareholders and no identity. i would rather have one person in charge otherwise lets just do what barcelona do, the fans own the club, they chip in every year and appoint someone to run it. I cant be doing with ashcrafty and simpson owning the majority falling out with the veggie boys causing chaos upstairs. enough is enough. lets get behind one man whoever that is. the board have shown we don't tens of millions to survive . let GT and julian get on with finishing the job they started last year. its stability and continuity we need not feckless shareholders who don't care about football.
cronos
says...
11:40am Tue 22 Feb 11
dukehornet says...
10:19am Fri 18 Feb 11
A former bankrupt, and it sounds like he will need family help to formulate a bid?
Does not sound wealthy enough, and probably lacks in the integrity department re bankruptcy, to buy a club like Watford!
We will see!