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Wi-fi boss to give shares to council

10:20am Wednesday 9th February 2011 in News By Scott D'Arcy

Rikki Hunt, of Digital City UK, who is giving his shares in the company to the council Rikki Hunt, of Digital City UK, who is giving his shares in the company to the council

BELEAGUERED wi-fi boss Rikki Hunt is to surrender his share in Digital City UK to Swindon Council, it has emerged.

Mr Hunt, who remains CEO of the firm, made the revelation at a meeting of the council’s scrutiny committee on Monday night.

He also cited “public noises” as a reason the project had stalled, suggesting the intense scrutiny of the company’s practices had previously scared off potential suitors.

As the Adver revealed last month the firm, which is part owned by the council, is in talks with other investors.

Earlier this week it was revealed the company had defaulted on the last three months’ interest payments owed on the £400,000 loan from the council.

Mr Hunt said he would gift his 30 per cent share in Digital City to the council but denied he was walking away from the project.

He said: “I’m still confident that this town can do it and I am not doing this to walk away.

“What I’m trying to do here is recognise I brought the council into this and if another investor comes along and wants shares, it will dilute them.”

The move would give the council a 65 per cent stake overall. The other 35 per cent will remain with technical partners aQovia.

Rikki said: “There has been a lot of effect on the business with the public noise and debates that have gone on. It has affected planned investment.

“If there is criticism of any public service there is an impact. The impact when the criticism is of a private company is ten-fold – it is far greater.

“We’ve been to scrutiny six times now.

“I have no issue with council scrutiny – we’ve had our fair share but it;s a good process.

“When I go on about noise I mean the kind that is politically damaging to us and the aggression towards the project.”

Rikki said he hoped to continue in his role at Digital City but admitted a new partner might mean he will be shown the door.

“I hope I am involved as its CEO because I believe in the concept and I’m happy to do that,” he said.

“I have to recognise, however, that should an investor come in – when they do – they may want to bring their own team.”

“Whether that happens history will tell but I have no fear about that.”

Comments(38)

Weary says...
10:34am Wed 9 Feb 11

How very predictable, I think it is called "passing the buck." Never mind Swindon people, Rikki says it is all your fault anyway, so that's all right then! SBC now has the majority share of not much at all really, let us see if their collective minds can turn disaster into success, let us all hold our breath!!

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mrwoo says...
10:38am Wed 9 Feb 11

The company will soon fold with a loss of £400k to the people of Swindon. Nr Bluh sell your house and pay us back!

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politicrat says...
10:40am Wed 9 Feb 11

1- this entreprise....no this adventure was doomed from the start, because the council did not have the business acumen to judge the Mr Hunt business plan. Quite simply banks refused.would have refused to loan the money so Mr Hunt used his network influence inside the Swindon council to "secure" taxpayer money fundind
2- Mr Hunt is going to take responsabiliy for this failure, is Mr Bluh going to show courage or he is going to hang on until he gets the boot?
3- Unfortunately because of these 2 characters, Swindon is now on course to lose half a million pounds, put it whatever way you want 30% 50% or 65% of Digital UK = 0. Worse it is quite possible that now that the council is the main owner of Digital UK, Swindon council will also be liable for the debt that Digital UK has accumulated, it would be wrong to believe that Digital only defaulted on its payments to Swindon
Please publish the list of creditors and all outstanding debt for Digital UK, NOW!

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cherryblossom says...
10:40am Wed 9 Feb 11

What a waste of time and tax payers money!!!!!

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zultan says...
10:44am Wed 9 Feb 11

The only person that didn't see this coming was Rodders Bluh. Here's hoping both he and Ricki get booted out of the council and their cozy council directorships...

So where did the money go? It certainly hasn't been spent on any infrastructure.

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Robfm says...
11:04am Wed 9 Feb 11

Well what a surprise when I posted on the other thread I had no idea the Adver had this story up their sleeves.

Well let's see if we have an impartial police service or not. I have asked the police to investigate this matter.

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Robh says...
11:07am Wed 9 Feb 11

How much are Mr Hunt's shares actually worth.

If he does succeed in this farce then we, the residents of Swindon will have 100% of a worthless project and he gets away scot free.

After the debacle with STFC I wonder why anyone does business with the man.

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Kineasy says...
11:10am Wed 9 Feb 11

So the people of Swindon are to blame, it is all their fault, just because they would have preferred to have 20,000 potholes repaired rather than a WiFi system. When will SBC realise that the ratepayer is the Customer?

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Kineasy says...
11:11am Wed 9 Feb 11

So the people of Swindon are to blame, it is all their fault, just because they would have preferred to have 20,000 potholes repaired rather than a WiFi system. When will SBC realise that the ratepayer is the Customer?

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politicrat says...
11:11am Wed 9 Feb 11

Robfm wrote:
Well what a surprise when I posted on the other thread I had no idea the Adver had this story up their sleeves. Well let's see if we have an impartial police service or not. I have asked the police to investigate this matter.
No necessary, I thin you will find that the political damage to the Tories in the council has been done.
Now what is to be established and how much the Swindon taxpayers will be losing and our liability to Digital UK creditors.
In fact, I wonder if under the FOI act we could request the Council to publish, make public the year accounts of Digital UK to be scrutinised by a panel of qualified accountants.......

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Robfm says...
11:17am Wed 9 Feb 11

They will probably try and argue this was a 'business' deal and falls outside the requirements a FOI request.

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cumbrianinswindon says...
11:17am Wed 9 Feb 11

This is just totally disgraceful and ranks alongside the many stuff ups that Labour made when it ran the show here. Both the Tories and Labour in Swindon are just hopeless-big on talk even bigger zero on action!. Oh and Roderick Bluh - you rank alongside Montaut for sheer incompetance and thats saying something!!. I wouldn't trust either of you to run a drink up in a brewery-yet alone run Swindon
.As for Rikki Hunt- you are a very clever man Sir-congratulations on fleecing the good people of Swindon with your useless scheme

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SockPuppet says...
11:39am Wed 9 Feb 11

Perhaps it would have been more suitable if we had all looked the other way as Rikki was extracting the £400k from Bluh and the rest of the Conservative Council, perhaps bending over whilst practices that are shady at best took place.

I'm not an accountant but does this mean we have a greater share of any impending loss now?
Or was Rikki untouchable behind his limited companies anyway?

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Robfm says...
11:50am Wed 9 Feb 11

SockPuppet, I think someone posted the companies had share capital of just £20.

What we don't of course know is how many creditors haven't been paid, if the Council has accepted these shares, then once again the rate payers could be seriously out of pocket. Time for all those involved to resign and not be allowed back on Council property and the police to move in before the late night shredding sessions start.

Having been involved with a major investigation into Rochester City Council a few years back, believe me shredding does occur.

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mrwoo says...
11:52am Wed 9 Feb 11

SockPuppet wrote:
Perhaps it would have been more suitable if we had all looked the other way as Rikki was extracting the £400k from Bluh and the rest of the Conservative Council, perhaps bending over whilst practices that are shady at best took place. I'm not an accountant but does this mean we have a greater share of any impending loss now? Or was Rikki untouchable behind his limited companies anyway?
No it's a Ltd company, any losses will be taken out of the companies assets. We do however own loads of shares in a worthless company. In effect Swindon Council owes Swindon Council the money and Rikki Hunt is still being paid as CEO.

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zultan says...
11:59am Wed 9 Feb 11

Is Rikki still a director of Swindon Commercial Services? (wonder if he had to apply for that job?).

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active citizen says...
12:00pm Wed 9 Feb 11

The shares are worthless ,and the ratepayers will lose their investment because of the folly of the Tory Leader and his acolytes.What were the officers doing.
No doubt if they had done their job and spoken out in time, there would have been early departures.
Through the long years of development in Swindon the Council has been relatively corruption free.
The Tories started consorting with shady characters, and the consequences are plain to see.
There needs to be a full inquiry with sucharge for the responsible councillors and officers.

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Robfm says...
12:07pm Wed 9 Feb 11

zultan, if he is a Director he will be making a packet, the recent released figures for October 2010 showed SCS having invoiced SBC for nearly £12 millions worth of work.

As others have rightly said there is a very unpleasant aroma surrounding all this.

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yhs4260 says...
12:18pm Wed 9 Feb 11

So... Rod Hull and his puppet have wasted 400k of our money?

Where is the money? It cant have all been spent on the coverage they deployed in Highworth?

Can the money be put back in the council? Or has Ricki blown the lot?

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Robfm says...
12:29pm Wed 9 Feb 11

yhs4260, I have to disagree with as to who is the Master and who is the Puppet.

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who dat? says...
12:43pm Wed 9 Feb 11

MrWoo - you , sir,are mistaken.
Digital City (UK) Ltd. is,indeed, a private limited company,registered at
Companies House ,Reg no. 6990831.
The registered address is
10TH FLOOR
MURRAY JOHN BUILDING
SWINDON
WILTSHIRE
SN1 1NH

The accounts, for what they are worth , are due 14th May .

This whole sheebang is inurgent need of investgation - is there anyone at ADVER TOWERS capable of thorough ,investgative journalism?

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Trend says...
12:51pm Wed 9 Feb 11

65% of nothing = 0%. What a complete waste of money this whole affair has been!

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mrwoo says...
1:36pm Wed 9 Feb 11

who dat? wrote:
MrWoo - you , sir,are mistaken. Digital City (UK) Ltd. is,indeed, a private limited company,registered at Companies House ,Reg no. 6990831. The registered address is 10TH FLOOR MURRAY JOHN BUILDING SWINDON WILTSHIRE SN1 1NH The accounts, for what they are worth , are due 14th May . This whole sheebang is inurgent need of investgation - is there anyone at ADVER TOWERS capable of thorough ,investgative journalism?
Yes, I said it was a ltd company.

Therefore how am I mistaken?

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Just a thought says...
1:57pm Wed 9 Feb 11

Re generation, of Swindon centre - waste of time!
Free internet access - waste of time!
I am not aligned to any political party but you don’t need to be a genius to start thinking this town has been seriously badly led.
Time for some answers

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politicrat says...
2:32pm Wed 9 Feb 11

Just a thought wrote:
Re generation, of Swindon centre - waste of time! Free internet access - waste of time! I am not aligned to any political party but you don’t need to be a genius to start thinking this town has been seriously badly led. Time for some answers
Of course you are right, however if you pay attention you will notice the same old gang of councillors taking turns in being elected.
If Swindon wants change, then lets with the councillors at the next ballot.
Very well to ask for change if it doesn't materialise in the ballot box.

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who dat? says...
5:29pm Wed 9 Feb 11

Sorry ,Mr Woo - misread your post-!!

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John Smith II says...
7:03pm Wed 9 Feb 11

Well Mr Bluh - would you like to explain this?

Do you consider this to be a misuse of public funds?

Do you think we will ever see 'our' £400,000 again?

Will you ever be able to stand up and defend budget cuts when you have led an administration that has caused this shambles?

Oh, and will you be strong enough to stand up and take responsibility for it, or will you choose to hide behind a screen of 'spin'?

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MrAngry says...
7:23pm Wed 9 Feb 11

If Rikki is still CEO it might be better if he kept his 35% share (£7 or whatever). Now he is receiving a salary and has no interest in whether the scheme ever makes a profit.

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Wellfire says...
9:50pm Wed 9 Feb 11

You simply couldn't make this up. Serial chancer hooks up (behind closed doors) with grandstanding council leader and the result is fiasco. Who could have possibly predicted that?

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reality_check says...
10:02pm Wed 9 Feb 11

And in one bound he was free..
.
You've got to hand it to the rhyming-slang-named crook, as con-men go, he's good.

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SpeakUp says...
12:59am Thu 10 Feb 11

ome months ago, I asked the company why they had failed to deliver in the pilot project in Highworth. One reason they gave was that they had "discovered" that the metallic coating on some domestic double glazing prevented the wifi signal getting into the house. Astonishing.

I'm only mildly techie but could have told them that. Surely any company claiming to be specialists in the wifi field would anticipate, not be shocked by, this simple truth?

Hardly surprising then that this whole fiasco is heading for failure. A great idea run by incompetents. Shame.

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Just another number says...
2:30am Thu 10 Feb 11

Digitial City seems to be Aqovia's only client. No surprise really.
-
Isn't it interesting that Rikki Hunt has chosen to blame 'public noises' for the delay. Anything that is now known about his track record, the company, the failing project, or it's shady beginnings, is what any diligent investor could easily find out for themselves.
-
In placing the blame for his failure on the public (amongst so many other places he's placed it) he's alienating the very customers that will be needed should, by some miracle, the project ever get to the point where there is Wifi and they are seeking paying customers. Not a good move from someone who claims to know everything there is to know about running a business.
-
On the radio he even complained about the office space he's been given because the elevator stops on the ninth floor and he's got to climb a single flight of stairs. And he claims to climb mountains?
-
There are serious questions that need to be answered. Fundamental questions about how the Council is run, not just those that have made the adver already but fundamental questions like why did Senior Officers hide the missed payments from the Councillors? Clearly, given the state of the project, that is information that would have been known and should have been passed on to the relevant people. Yet they claim no knowledge of it? Missing or inaccurate information seems to be a feature of almost every headline related to the Council. How can the Council offer any transparency or openness to the public when they can't even manage it amongst themselves?

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Grimwald says...
10:32am Thu 10 Feb 11

The smile on Rikki Hunt's face says it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now is the time to pay and that means we need new Council Representation that will safeguard Public Money rather than squander it.

I hope that those responsible will be forced to make good this money if necessary from their own pockets. Only then will people in public office learn to respect public money and not use it for their own gratification.

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Robh says...
11:01am Thu 10 Feb 11

If it had been one of the major players it might have worked but the novices had no chance. Should have asked me before they started.

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Nostim says...
1:44pm Thu 10 Feb 11

Mr Bluh I said it a couple of days ago and i will say it again you should resign and take Mr Perkins (Director of digital city) with you.
What a waste of our money.
Totaly incompetant council.
Ricky Hunt (he of STFC chairman once and was no good at that) must be laughing all the way to the bank.

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Weary says...
2:04pm Thu 10 Feb 11

Nostim..sums it up nicely but don't forget the CEO / Director of Finance / Director of Legal Services/ Cabinet Member for Finance in the clean up, they must all have had a role to play. As for Hunt, any further comment would probably be a waste of time, let the SFO deal with it.

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Just a thought says...
3:28pm Thu 10 Feb 11

I do hope the Adver keep going with this because it seems to me that most people want to see some repercussions – for myself I want to know;
Who did research to ensure council money (our money) was invested wisely?
Who authorised the release of this money?
What was it spent on?
Who is going to ensure the money is repaid?
Who is going to answer for this complete farce?

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active citizen says...
4:19pm Thu 10 Feb 11

Bluh and Perkins should go and be replaced by people who will command some public respect.
The officers should also be investigated to establish why they did not speak out in time. Has the standard of officers got so low that they have been intimidated by the councillors into not doing their job.
If they have been silenced then they should be dismissed.

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