Barclays agrees to two-month breathing space to repay £3m loan after clients fail to pay consultant's fees.
Troubled multidisciplinary consultant High-Point Rendel has been bailed out by its bank for the second time since June.

Barclays has now agreed to extend a £2.9m loan repayment deadline two months until the end of next month.

High-Point first extended a loan due to be repaid on 31 May by two months.

It has been unable to meet the second deadline because of the failure of clients to pay fees believed to be worth £5m.

A significant chunk of this is owed from work in the Middle East and Far East.

A source close to the consultant said that the management believed the unpaid fees would be received by then, but hinted that the bank's patience was wearing thin.

The source said: "I hope we don't have to extend the deadline again – the fact that the bank has extended it only by a couple of months may be an indication of its thinking."

High-Point is relying on payment of money due, or for a long-proposed management buyout to come to fruition. The plan for a buyout, backed by a financial institution, was announced in October but nothing has been heard since.

The source conceded that the talks had dragged on for a long time but said the company hoped to have the buyout completed by the end of the year.

The talks were thought to have become bogged down earlier this year, but now seem to be back on track.

High-Point's share price has suffered since the announcement of the buyout negotiations as the graph below indicates – last week it closed 4.75p, down from more than 20p last October.

Downloads