Optical Express Saved by founder/CEO David Moulsdale

Read my previous post re 'I then spent a lot of time trawling through Moulsdale's labyrinth of companies, and those of directors and shareholders, and will share some of what I discovered with you in due course.’

On 6 January 2020 June Findlayson (née Moulsdale) was removed as a director and replaced by Tweedles aka Stephen Hannan.


beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC161469/officers

This begs the question why Moulsdale made this move?

One theory is that he plans to put Optical Express Ltd into administration and will remove himself as a director before doing so - obvious that Tweedles will inevitably and eventually be OE's fall guy, though far from an innocent in their shameful and immoral practices!

If he did so - as with Optical Express (Southern) soon after its name change to 123 Leeds Ltd, and Bridgewater Hospital (Manchester) Ltd rebranded as 'Bridgewater Wellness Clinic' - Moulsdale would still be able to trade as Optical Express (Westfield) Ltd.
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC161695/officers

I dug up way more than this, but if you’re interested in the complex structure of Moulsdale's myriad companies you can do your own research: start with the links in 18 April post and follow the paper trail.

On the steps of 200 St Vincent Street, and I doubt that the IMAB members who are allegedly paid more than £20k per year to put their names to OE's bullsh*t 'advisory board’ were impressed by the location, with previous IMAB [strike]jollies[/strike] conferences in the Cayman Islands and Mallorca.


opticalexpressgroup.com/imab/

Front row: Stephen Hannan • Coleman Graff • Stephen Dell • Marguerite McDonald (Dimitris Kazakos over her left shoulder) • Burkhard Dick (let’s not be childish people!) • Jan Venter • Manek Patel - and others some of you will recognise as being the person who damaged your eyes.

This is an old photo, and Manek Patel is no longer with Optical Express - but he can rest assured that I’ll be giving his new clinic some publicity with a well deserved shout out in the next few days!

I am underwhelmed by Sir Tom Hunter's £100k donation to the nhs.uk, not least because the 'kind-hearted billionaire' can easily afford to donate many millions, all tax deductable (tax avoidance a favourite topic with publicity seeking Sir Tom and his good friend David Moulsdale)


www.thesun.co.uk/news/11367043/sir-tom-h...navirus/kind-hearted billionaire

An email with a link to The Sun article was sent to me last week, titled, 'Kind hearted my a**! What about money for damaged OE (who he propped up) px?'

This prompted me to refresh my memory about Sir Tom Hunter's involvement with David Moulsdale and Optical Express - scroll down!

I then spent a lot of time trawling through Moulsdale's labyrinth of companies, and those of directors and shareholders, and will share some of what I discovered with you in due course.

Recommended reading before I do...

1. 'Individuals may create shell corporations to protect assets from lawsuits.'
'• Evading taxes. Wealthy people may hide money in shell corporation to shield it from taxation.'
www.upcounsel.com/shell-corporation

2. 'The business incurred a multi-million pound bill for store closures amid tough trading conditions in 2014 during which an overseas corporation, Insight Global Holding, took a controlling stake in it.'
www.heraldscotland.com/business_hq/17943...-risk-surge-profits/

3. www.jpintegra.com/eduardo-da-silva

Meanwhile, Captain Tom Moore completed 100 laps of his garden, on a zimmer frame, at the age of 100, and deserves our respect for his achievement - raising more than £17 million and counting - far more than a billionaire who simply lifted his hand to sign a cheque for a pathetic 100k!

And I think most of you will agree with Piers Morgan, who said: ‘Wouldn’t it be great if actually we didn’t feel temptation to give it [knighthood] to business people who pay money for the honour, we didn’t give it to celebrities for singing nice songs, but we give it to someone like him. That we make him Sir Tom.'
metro.co.uk/2020/04/16/nation-campaigns-...knighthood-12563866/

Published in October 2018, the HeraldScotland need to find a more recent photo of David Moulsdale, because this one is at least ten years old



Read the article to put my annotations into context...
www.heraldscotland.com/business_hq/16960...imes-on-high-street/

And it would be ridiculous to believe gossip that David Moulsdale skimmed millions from Optical Express over the years and put it in his off shore accounts in the Cayman Islands. As if an honest and reputable businessman would do such a thing!

It's simply coincidental that Eduardo D'Angelo Pereira Da Silva, a Director with 200 St Vincent Street SPV Ltd, is a Cayman Islander...
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC491741/officers
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC428461/officers

And again just coincidental that Eduardo D'Angelo Pereira Da Silva was a Director with Pacific Shelf 1741 Ltd, linked to Sir Tom Hunter who bailed out OE in 2013.


www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hunters-secre...n-rescue-rdb76bb880c

More details below...

OE's deep awareness of the suffering of others is simply awe-inspiring and unbelievably generous. (Tax deductable?)

Such a shame for David Moulsdale that he no longer has a snowball's chance in hell of the knighthood he allegedly craved before OERML upset his aspirations
www.opticianonline.net/optical-express-s...s-lorraine-kelly-si/

NB: The STV Children’s Appeal was established by STV and the Hunter Foundation.


www.opticianonline.net/optical-express-s...s-lorraine-kelly-si/

I emailed Sir Tom Hunter yesterday:



This morning I received a reply from Ewan Hunter (no relation).

"Dear Sasha

Thank you for (your) email.

To confirm Sir Tom Hunter has no involvement in Optical Express.

Kind Regards
Ewan Hunter"

I replied, and queried the Sunday Times article.
www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Re...e/article1295958.ece

Ewan replied, "We exited Optical Express and have no involvement in it."

I replied, "Pleased to hear it! Will publish and update press."

About to suggest that OE's damaged patients contact Sir Tom Hunter for help I discovered that his wife, Lady Marion Agnes Hunter, has her own Trust, which funds charities that help those with visual impairments!
www.agneshunter.org.uk/
I wonder if Lady Agnes would consider supporting My Beautiful Eyes/OERML

FAO Sir Tom: info@thehunterfoundation.co.uk

The final piece of my little jigsaw!


• Lady Marion Agnes Hunter is married to Sir Tom Hunter
• Paul Davidson is on the board of West Coast Capital (see 8 May post)

I hope that some of you will understand this complex picture better than I do!

On a simplistic level, because Pacific Shelf 1741 Ltd has a bond, floating charge and debenture over OE's assets, presumably this gives the company (ultimately Sir Tom Hunter) total control over Optical Express should they want it.

Please do correct me if I'm wrong

DCM Ltd (Company number SC146610) is registered at the same address as Pacific Shelf 1741 Ltd

Btw, for those of you who didn't know, DCM is an acronym for David Charles Moulsdale

Keep your eye on Pacific Shelf

• Rod McKenzie is co-founder and senior partner with Harper Macleod LLP, legal team for Optical Express/DCM (Optical Holdings) Ltd.

Disgusted wrote: www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Re...-standard-2013_08_04
"Hunter put up some of the money that enabled the founder, David Moulsdale, to hang on to the optician and laser eye surgery chain after Royal Bank of Scotland threatened to seize control. The bank, which had already lent £30m, became concerned that the business was spiralling out of control after Moulsdale asked for an emergency loan to pay wages.

Hunter, whose fortune was ravaged by the financial crisis, is understood to have lent Moulsdale roughly half the money needed to buy out RBS. It is thought the bank’s loans were acquired for a fraction of their face value."

Speculation was rife when Sir Tom Hunter bailed out David Moulsdale in August 2013, and my attention was recently directed to information which might explain more about Sir Tom’s interest in Optical Express.

"West Coast Capital is a hands on investor, working closely with management teams, adding value without second guessing those who know more than us.

Previous deals include public to private transactions, venture capital investments and growth capital, together with some distressed debt opportunities which came along.”
www.westcoastcapital.co.uk

I’ll be posting more on this later.

Meanwhile, rumour suggests that OE's Birmingham store is closing soon, with more closures expected to follow.

Perhaps high street rents are no longer within OE's budget