Tim Watts buys the Wrekin Ruby

IN what must be one of the most unusual debt settlements in commercial history, Midland-based recruitment specialist Network Group Holdings has announced it has acquired the fabled ruby known as ‘The Gem of Tanzania’.

The group, headed by flamboyant businessman Tim Watts, has bought the gem from adminstrators of the failed Shropshire building firm Wrekin Construction for £8,000.

The price is more than one thousand times less than the value Wrekin placed on the stone.

In a tale which could have been lifted straight from a Hollywood blockbuster, the coconut-sized gemstone – which some say is cursed – came to public prominence last year when it emerged as one of the assets of the now defunct builder.

The Shifnal company, which collapsed in March last year with the loss of 500 jobs, left a trail of creditors and debts of £40m.

Administrators Ernst & Young confirmed the ruby, which is 10,700 carats and weighs 2.1kg, had been sold to Wrekin in exchange for £11m of shares in the firm.

The mysterious gem was put up for sale in an effort to claw back some of the huge sums still owed to creditors.

One of those creditors was Telford-based Network Construction Services (NCS), part of the Network Group.

NCS, recent winner of the Birse Rail Safety Leadership award, supplies skilled labour to the rail and construction industries. It had been supplying workers to its near neighbour for some time and was owed a considerable sum by Wrekin at the time of its collapse.

Ernst & Young invited bids for the gemstone and at the close of bidding, which attracted more than 60 offers, Network Group secured the gem for £8,010.

In taking possession of the gemstone, the group said it hoped to be compensated for the losses it incurred when Wrekin went into administration.

Jon Smith, Group Operations Director for Network Group Holdings, said: “It is certainly one of the most unusual cases I have ever come across in my career.

“However, it quickly became apparent to us following Wrekin’s collapse that we would be unlikely to recover what was owed to us through normal channels.”

He said the group had therefore opted to make the strategic investment and the ruby has been placed in the Birmingham Deposit Centre for safekeeping where the group hopes it will continue to rise in value.

“At Network Group Holdings we are used to unearthing a few gems for our clients – well now we have one of our own,” added Mr Smith.

The directors said they had decided to keep the investment off the group’s balance sheet.

The gemstone certainly has a colourful past.

Following Wrekin’s collapse last year it emerged that the stone had once belonged to a businessman who was convicted of illegal diamond trading in South Africa.

The same businessman was later exposed in a television news investigation as trying to peddle goat serum as a cure for AIDS.
Through a sequence of events, the stone was passed down to Wrekin boss David Unwin where it was listed as an £11m asset in the company books.

Estimates of the stone’s value have varied but some experts have said it could be worth £11m provided it was cut up into smaller stones by a skilled jeweller.

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