Thursday 29 April 2010

ANOTHER FAIR WORK CASE FOUND AGAINST ALLIED BRANDS (ABQ) VILLA & HUT SHOP - ADDITIONAL CASES BEING INVESTIGATED?

For the second time in as many weeks an Allied Brands subsidiary, this time Villa & Hut in Melbourne, has been found guilty of unfair dismissal of an employee under even stranger circumstances than last week's decision on Kenny's Cardiology.


Allied's strategy in this case was first to dispute the exact legal name of the entity being charged by the government, and then repeatedly delaying the tribunal, and then finally failing to appear at the hearing.

The commissioner found in favour of the employee and ordered back wages to be paid in full.

There are reports that NSW is investigating the pay and hiring practises of several Baskin Robbins shops in the Sydney area including the flagship Opera House location. Charges may be filed in these cases shortly.

Tuesday 20 April 2010

ALLIED BRANDS (ABQ) FOUND GUILTY IN EMPLOYEE ABUSE CASE BY FAIR WORK AUSTRALIA - SHOWS DIRECT TIES TO ABQ DIRECTOR

In documents just published today, Allied Brands, who were running the Kenny's Cardiology shop at Port Macquarie, was found guilty of unfair dismissal after a manager questioned the financial viability of this shop that they were trying to sell to sucker franchisees.



According to the court case the employee had discussions with an unnamed director of Allied Brands, and said "The discussion included the applicant asking about the rent in arrears; stock that had been ordered but not arriving because the accounts were on hold; and the profit and loss statement that didn’t seem right. "

"The applicant also discussed how frustrated she was because she had not received employer contributions to superannuation since October 2008, and had notified the tax office because the issue had not been resolved."

Fair Work Australia found the dismissal illegal, calling it "harsh, unjust, and unreasonable".

• ILLEGAL DISMISSAL TO COVER UP A FINANCIALLY UN-VIABLE SHOP
• FAILURE TO PAY ENTITLEMENTS AND SUPERANNUATION

It's unknown if a franchisee was ever put in this shop which even employees could see was a financial black hole.

Clearly the illegal activities of Allied Brands are being orchestrated from the highest levels in the company.


Wednesday 14 April 2010

NEW DIRECTOR JURY WOWK BAILS AFTER NINE WEEKS - SHOCK ANNOUNCEMENT ROILS ALLIED BRANDS MANAGEMENT - "WHAT A FUCKING MESS THEY'VE GOT GOING HERE"

In a shock announcement to the market today, Allied Brands announced this morning the resignation of Director and Company Secretary Jury Wowk.


AFTER JUST NINE WEEKS!

On 5 February 2010, Allied Brands (ABQ) CEO Shane Radbone announced to the market the "appointment of Mr. Jury Wowk as a new independent Non Executive Director and joint Company Secretary" for Allied Brands.


Jury Wowk is a solicitor and employed by high profile law firm HWL Ebsworth Lawyers in Sydney.  


It isn't known yet what kind of financial and legal mess so scared Mr. Wowk that he ran for the hills two months into his directorship.  It is known that Mr. Wowk's partners at HWL Ebsworth were distressed that he was now being associated with such a disreputable firm as Allied Brands Ltd.  He would also be aware of his possible criminal exposure if the actions of this company aren't in conformance with the law.  This kind of quick resignation is an extremely serious indicator of what's going on inside the company - especially with the cryptic announcement made by the CEO.


Wowk is also a director at PPK Group, one of the largest investors in Allied Brands along with personal investments by PPK Directors Raymond Beath and Glenn Molloy.


Shareholders rightly should be concerned, and ask Jury Wowk directly how safe their investment is with Allied Brands!  Email him at jury.wowk@hwlebsworth.com.au  or call him at (02) 9334 8555.


And while you're speaking to him, ask him what's become of the missing Managing Director Peter Graham.

Thursday 8 April 2010

MISSING MANAGING DIRECTOR AND REQUIREMENT FOR "CONTINUOUS DISCLOSURE"


Public companies like Allied Brands Ltd. are required by ASX and ASIC rules to tell ALL investors significant information in a timely way so as to not be disadvantaged compared to insiders.


CONTINUOUS DISCLOSURE RULES HERE


Peter Graham, an original founder of Allied Brands, is still claimed to be the "Managing Director" of this company. But ABQ investors are starting to ask the question - "why has no disclosure been made of the apparent fact that Mr. Graham has no office, and many ABQ staff are aware that he has had no management role at ABQ for many months"???


"Who's really Managing Director, and why haven't shareholders been told"??


Speculation is growing that many of the battler Gold Coast investors who purchased into ABQ in 2004 based on Graham's "great local company" bullshit will add to the growing exodus of shareholders if they hear he's no longer at the helm. Clearly the company is in deep financial troubles with monthly cash injections from Spring Tree paid for by more and more shares worth less and less every day. 


Secondly, it's rumoured that Peter Graham is integral to the contractual relationship between ABQ and Baskin Robbins USA, which will collapse if/when they find out Graham is no longer making any of the company's decisions.


Finally, speculation is that's he's been made the "fall guy" the company is going to shove forward to answer for the company's collapse.


Where is Peter Graham? Why is he still collecting a big cheque but doing nothing?