Bond's British venture collapses

FORMER Australian tycoon Alan Bond's new British business venture, the Money Centre cheque-cashing and short-term loan business, has collapsed only a year after its launch.

Directors of Money Centre, which operated two outlets in London, are to appoint an administrator after promises of around £2m in new investment failed to come through.

British-born Bond, who was released from a Western Australia prison in March 2000 after serving just over three years over a A$1.2bn (£441m) fraud, moved to London to oversee his new venture, put together by a Perth property developer he met in prison. He also participated in a Cowes regatta last year to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the America's Cup, won by his syndicate in 1983.

The Money Centre is modelled on a controversial Australian loan franchise called ChequExchange, whose parent company is also in liquidation. Bond and his partners paid A$1.05m in 2000 for the British master franchise for the operation.