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New Heighway Owner

I believe the correct vernacular in this case is buffoon.
 
There is a village missing it’s idiot that’s for sure.


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Tough reading that interview, especially the bit about Andrew’s 40k/45k salary, and the undisclosed payoff from the investors to get him out. If he feels bad about deposits lost, how about paying them back now then?
 
The only trouble with taking a pic one is the timestamps need to be hovered over to make them display the dates/times, but I will take a copy of whats there and pass you the login info just in case **** hits the fan and needs to be verified.

Expect pm after this message
 
How do you downvote, I am struggling and thanks Neil for verifying me on pinside.


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Make sure you are signed in, then just press on the down vote at the top of the post.
 
Make sure you are signed in, then just press on the down vote at the top of the post.

Or if you are on mobile/tablet press the red pop number with the negative number in it! And then the downvote button!


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I was chatting to a friend of mine about this situation (was talking about the fact there was new pinball makers of varied success); he seems to think Heighway may have a case to answer under modern slavery legislation...

I love statements like "There is ZERO evidence to say that ANY of these companies were liquidated." Check the way it's written... He could have also written: "There is ZERO evidence to say that ANY of these companies were not liquidated''...

"Dave Sanders, for his own reasons, chose to work for the company on a ‘voluntary’ basis." This statement would be sufficient to indict him in France... No pro bono work allowed for a private company!

Being curious, I had a little look at the following:

Modern Slavery Act 2015

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/30/section/3/enacted

Section 5a, 5b/c and 6a are particularly relevant, given both the nature of Dave's allegations, including Andrew purportedly trying to induce him to make false representations to claim benefits to which he would not otherwise be entitled, and that Dave is likely to qualify as a vulnerable person (Asperger's).

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Securing services etc by force, threats or deception
(5)The person is subjected to force, threats or deception designed to induce him or her—

(a)to provide services of any kind,
(b)to provide another person with benefits of any kind, or
(c)to enable another person to acquire benefits of any kind.

Securing services etc from children and vulnerable persons
(6)Another person uses or attempts to use the person for a purpose within paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (5), having chosen him or her for that purpose on the grounds that—

(a)he or she is a child, is mentally or physically ill or disabled, or has a family relationship with a particular person, and
(b)an adult, or a person without the illness, disability, or family relationship, would be likely to refuse to be used for that purpose.

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"Dave and I have been friends for nearly nine years. Dave shared the company dream from the very beginning. At the start, Dave had the option to be directly involved with the company – including shares – and he declined."

OK, first the obvious. No matter what personal state they're in, nobody, but NOBODY, decides to up and move away from their family and move hundreds of miles to a new area to help set up a major new venture, for the sake of 'voluntary' work. I won't go into things that started going wrong once we got there; that's irrelevant. And yes, I did turn down the option of shares but then so would anyone whose personal issues have left them reliant on the state safety net for a long time that said venture is their shot at getting off of. Shares count as savings, and savings are used as a cap towards benefit calculation, so it would have been a pretty big deal if I ever had to leave for any reason and thus worse than useless if I couldn't cash them out. It wasn't a risk I was prepared to take, plus I wasn't prepared to accept any potential liabilities in a company that wasn't mine. Multiple people told me at the time, in my position, don't take shares.

"One big reason that I can discuss is that Dave wanted the freedom to come and go as he pleased – with no set working days or working hours as an ‘employee’ would have. Dave always preferred working from home... In 2015 I told Dave that the company’s finances were much healthier and asked him if he would consider becoming a paid employee. Again Dave declined."

This is true. I have major sleep issues in that my sleep pattern just does not work (I believe that's an Asperger thing), and anyone familiar with me from the Visual Pinball days knows that I get engrossed in a project, I tend to work long and hard well into the night. But you know what that's called, utilising your own time and hours to get a job done within an allocated timescale? Freelancing! How hard would it have been to put some manner of freelance contract in place that would have suited us both? That's how I intend to continue from this point on.

"Of course, Dave wasn’t going to do all of this for nothing – but he wanted to be paid retrospective royalties for his design work in the future."

No, that's what you wanted to pay me, every time the subject was broached. A royalty on every game produced, whether by myself or another designer. Potentially great if you were, say, Stern; but as I told you more than once, you weren't. You were selling me a dream. And that's what was really irking me; straightforward royalties meant my work held no value on its own merit. I would receive no money *unless* the manufacture and sales side of the company unrelated to my work were also up to the job. You wanted me to assume the same risks as the company, but weren't prepared to take any 'risks' for your designer in return.

Look, just ask yourself this: if you really thought we had a mutual arrangement in place, why did you never contract me for it?
 
I tried reading that interview - and I can't. I just cannot. It makes my skin crawl.

I shamelessly steal the words and phrasing of someone else to express what I'm thinking here:

abuser language 101:
  • witch hunt
  • character assassination
  • kangaroo court
  • burden of proof
  • victim mentality
don't trust people who use these.
I also post the following without comment as I merely find it an interesting read, obviously this is in no way related to the current topic at hand, but I feel it a relevant diversion based on my own feelings: http://www.thriveafterabuse.com/word-salad-narc-speak/
 
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My ex girlfriend was a solicitor. Broke my heart splitting with her. Wonder if I can sue her for that?
 
Unfortunately the huge amount written about Heighway on here and on Pinside seems invisible to the rest of the world. If you Google Andrew Heighway you don't see it. The first thing you see is that hydrofoil article banging on about Heighway's successful pinball company.

If someone started a post called “insert search term here” it would get more visibility in search engines. You could then link to various posts discussing the company within the posts... #justsaying


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If someone started a post called “insert search term here” it would get more visibility in search engines. You could then link to various posts discussing the company within the posts... #justsaying

Edit: Not suggesting anyone does this ^, but that’s how you make posts more visible.

The guy just seems deluded blaming the failure of his company on a community of people. There was loads of hype and anticipation on this forum around Alien; the majority wishing well, with a few willing to gamble their own cash to place deposits that ultimately prolonged the life of the company.

Compared to the scorn I’ve seen on people supposedly over-pricing their pinball machines on Pinside, and as I’ve said before, the behaviour on here is exemplary.




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I don’t have an iron in this fire but I did consider Andrew a friend until recently. I also found this statement in the interview to be ironic

“I’ll end this point by asking you a question. We shared a room on quite a few occasions over the last six years. Do I owe you any money for any of these rooms? Did I honour my commitment to pay my share of the room at Expo 2017 when I didn’t even attend the event? We both know the answer is ‘yes’ to these questions.”

So he does owe Martin money for hotel rooms....

The wording of a lot of the answers are carefully crafted to not be dishonest if quizzed further with evidence etc. Like saying I don’t owe Daventry a penny, if proved he owes them say £1000 he can say ok but I don’t owe them a penny :rolleyes:
 
Can you guarantee that none of the Heighway Pinball investor or pre-order money was spent on the Curl Curl or to help fund your hydrofoil venture?

Yes. Absolutely no funds relating to investors or the company were used in this venture.

Doesn't mention pre-order money.

When the investor group made their investment(s) in Heighway Pinball, what changes did they demand in return for that investment?

Other than my forced departure from the company, I cannot comment on the specifics of my departure – for legal reasons.

What can you do or say to all those people who paid money to you for games they never received and are now never likely to receive?

I deeply regret this situation. I did my very best and understand that I fell short of most people’s expectations. I sold the company, in good faith, in the full belief that everyone would receive their games or refunds. I believed the promises of the investor group – like everyone else did. The end result is nothing short of shameful.

Which is it sold the company or asked to leave?


Did you pay yourself a salary at Heighway Pinball?

Yes.

How much was that?

In year 4 it was £40,000 for the year and in year 5 it was £45,000.

What about years 1 - 3?

If you were a customer who prepaid and never received a game, what would you do?

I would be asking serious questions of the investor group and how they apparently misled everyone for the reasons I have stated in this interview.

In hindsight, I very much regret that we took pre-orders for Alien.

This money should have been ring fenced and never used for operating costs.




 
From what I can see:

Heighway Pinball Limited has appointed a liquidator as of last Friday. This means that the Directors of the Company have concluded that the Company cannot continue to trade and cannot meet it's financial obligations to its creditors.

Any person or company who is owed money by Heighway Pinball Limited needs to contact the Liquidator and register themselves as a Creditor and provide some documentary proof of the actual amount owed. e.g. a deposit or payment in full for a game should have been receipted? A supplier of goods will have an outstanding invoice etc.

As a creditor you have a right to receive information from the liquidator about the financial situation of the Company. They are responsible for identifying ALL the companies assets and selling these in order to maximise the return to the creditors.

You should ask initially for the current accounts and a statement of capital. i.e. the current balance sheet - this should show a summary of who is owed money. I'd ask them to provide a breakdown of all creditors - which they will produce in due course. This is helpful as it tells you who is ahead of you in the pecking order. If the company owes HMRC for tax/VAT then they come first!

It has been alleged (but no concrete proof) that the Directors? have removed good and equipment from the companies trading address. As a creditor you should be asking if this is indeed true and if so why has this been done and what has happened to the stock, equipment and other assets of the company. There could be a bona fide reason.

It has also been alleged (but no proof) that the Directors have transacted some business between Heighway Pinball Ltd and their other recently formed Company, Pinball Brothers Ltd. As a creditor, you should ask the liquidator whether this is indeed true or not, and if true, the nature of the transactions - you would want to be assured that any such transactions were conducted on an 'arms length basis'. Basically to ensure that no assets have been transferred for less than their open market value; no transfer of obligations or debt.

it has been alleged by a number of persons on the forum that they were recently asked for full payment by the Company for their machine - apparently being ready to ship. Also other have alleged they were recently offered an upgrade to an "LE" model machine that was a cancelled order, and again asked for the full balance payment. IF, and I repeat, IF, these requests are bona fide requests from the Directors of the Company AND, at the time those Directors were aware that the Company was about to go into Liquidation, or would not have been able to fulfill the shipment of the machine, then it's pretty likely that they were committing fraud, especially if anyone paid up. Did anyone actually pay up recently?

It appears that Pinball Brothers and Heighway Pinball are connected companies by virtue of being controlled and owned by the same or similar set of Directors and parent companies - Norway, etc. As such I would be asking the liquidator to examine any business transactions between these two companies. My basis for this would be to protect the Assets and Creditors of Heighway Pinball Ltd.

There have been some talk about the value of the IP and the value of the license to build Alien from the owners of the Alien IP. Again, I would be writing to the Creditor asking them to specifically investigate the value in these assets. If (as some have suggested) the licence has expired, then that needs to be clarified by the liquidator. There is also a dispute over the actual IP within the game itself - i.e a certain person or persons may have a claim on this if he did indeed design it and was not paid, and more importantly was not even employed by Heighway pinball under a contract of employment (normally a contract of employment would ensure that any IP created by the employee whilst working would belong to the company - so in the absence of this - he has a strong case - albeit one that would require some time and effort and probably money to prove.)
 
I supplied good as late as march to heighway pinball address but was asked to invoice pinball brothers. Whilst this was pro forma so I was paid would this be evidence of transferring assets?
 
I supplied good as late as march to heighway pinball address but was asked to invoice pinball brothers. Whilst this was pro forma so I was paid would this be evidence of transferring assets?

it all seems to point to the fact that they have been trading under both companies and from the same address. some might say that there is only one real reason for them to trade under a new company and that is to TRY rid themselves of obligations under the original company.


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i think they still owe me £50 from years ago, I'll have to look tomorrow
 
Others have said that they received Alien pins with boards that were stamped Pinball Brothers.

If they have been savvy they will have transferred the IP / goods out a long time ago and sold or licensed them back to Heighway as a separate entity. I'd be surprised if they had left it this late in the day to asset strip the company.
 
I haven't been following this but its clear from the interview he's a bull****ter.
 
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