Robinson's way forward.

London Scottish has agreed to sell its debt collection subsidiary, Robinson Way, after recently being put into administration. The niche lender failed to meet the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) capital requirements.

Robinson Way’s business model centres around the purchase of portfolios of debt, with the aim to collect more money than it paid for the debt purchased.

Although this model was profitable, in the final quarter of 2007 the company was forced to write some profit off , because of poorer than predicted collection rates.

The buyout represents a great outcome, having safeguarded the continuity of the business, its values and employment in Salford, an area of the North West that is desperate for some good news.

The deal demonstrates that there are excellent businesses residing within diverse financial institutions that have fallen on hard times. With the right management, proactive backing from the funding community and pragmatism of the administrator, deals like this one can be done.

We wish the management team every success with the further development of their business in the UK. We expect the business to go from strength to strength becoming a major player in the consolidation of the UK debt collection business.