Bob’s Bargain Basement Bazaar, previously known as Thistle Housing

1,464 DAYS – FOUR YEARS + 3 DAYS
since Thistle’s mismanaged Major Works Programme started on 7th January 2016
1,136 DAYS – THREE YEARS + 1 MONTH + 11 DAYS
since 30th November 2016 when “all of the works to all of the houses in Toryglen will be complete“. Today, 10th January 2020, still incomplete, work proven to be shoddy and more importantly, dangerous and now possibly hazardous to life and limb

And now it starts. The Transfer of Engagement and to be done as quickly as possible.

The urgent fire sale of Thistle Housing. Offered to any suitable housing association with a capable management, knowledgeable staff, the correct attitude to and willing to engage with residents, a good source of cash and lots of it. At least, whatever association it is, it will be aware that after three years and more battling the lies and inept neglect of Thistle’s failed management, that Toryglen residents are not meekly compliant and certainly not complacent as far as the requirements of Toryglen are concerned. Residents live in Toryglen and therefore have an interest in its betterment whereas none of Thistle’s management does.

There’s no going back. Thistle Housing is all but dead. Thistle’s greedy and uncaring management who directed long term serious and historic failures over many years, now proven to be grossly useless, have screwed every penny they can from Thistle and any other sources of loot they could grab leaving the staff to fend for themselves.

At least the new (and now to be short lived) management committee, led by a Regulator appointed chairperson, Mr Lawrie West (who himself is now a Statutory Manager and seems to come with good bona fides) had the decency to make a form of apology to Toryglen residents for the mismanagement of their area, as here but no apology was forthcoming from those who actually caused the failure of Thistle Housing, as in Mrs McColgan, Miss Sprott, Mr Naismith and Mrs Brenda Wilson (all in cahoots with the now booted previous management committee). Not a peep.

Bob McGuire, nominally of Savills, the interim Director of Thistle Housing, is now charged with offloading the millstone that is Thistle, a housing association so corrupt and profoundly failed that it is not salvageable. In fact, other than him showing ’em who’s the boss, getting its assets transferred and it shut down will be his prime task now that he has finished sorting out the filing cabinets. No doubt there will be a wee ‘incentive’ in this for him personally hence the sooner Thistle gets disposed of, the sooner Bob can get back to his well heeled slippers by the fire and count all that easily earned loot. Absolutely fabulous. Great when you can get it as it helps to eke out the pension.

If Thistle’s embattled staff think that Mr McGuire is, in any shape or form, in place to save them, it might be wise if they reappraised their opinions. Bob is there to divest the association of its assets and quickly thereafter, its existence. It is doubtful that staff, who are an expense, will be principal in his goals, especially as the association which ends up lumbered with the wreck of Thistle will have its own experts, staff members, contacts, systems, etc. Of course, by that time, the two most expensive staff members, Miss Sprott and Mr Naismith will have been ejected (as they should have been some time ago with Grace McColgan), gone with some form of ‘package’ or be scrabbling for new positions, a task which will not be easy given the poisonous reputation they imbued upon Thistle Housing.

Meantime however, the multitude of significant building problems and asbestos removal remain with no rectification plan announced, indeed, any plan of any sort at all despite all the promises. There have been no answers to the questions of where all the money went, such as:

• The millions of pounds lost to deficit over the last two financial years (not including any horrors which have secretly developed in the current financial year which has only two months or so left to run)
• The hundreds of thousands of pounds retained from E.ON to address window cill faults (and seems to have vanished)
• The £560,000 claimed by the now deposed director, Grace McColgan, used to improve 300 gardens
• The thousands of pounds budgeted for security within the Major Works costings when there was no security at all
• The huge six figures wasted on Gas Cats Limited, aka Jeff Poulter, the fake Clerk of Works, who evidently missed out on the multitude of widespread building faults and who anecdotally frequently bragged that he had a USB stick of evidence should anything go wrong. No money back guarantee on that one?

Has an impending possibility (probability?) of a third straight year of huge financial loss been the catalyst for the closure of Thistle Housing and/or has the investigation into the secretive, unexplained and rank £8.5 million so called “fixed price” contract with E.ON, supposedly under investigation, spewed up some festering anomalies? Once again, shareholders and residents are kept in the dark.

Simple question – Where did all the money go?

Who is Robert Gerard McGuire? No one really seems to know, least of all Toryglen residents or association shareholders. Strangely, for someone reputed to have been in housing all of his life, there is little on the web about him, whereas in the case of the Regulator’s Statutory Manager, John Mulholland, for example, or indeed Thistle’s current chairperson, Lawrie West, there is no end of information on their credentials.  The only source of info on Mr McGuire would appear to be a recently updated listing on linkedin* which indicates that in the past few years, he has been director of his own hundred quid small limited company since 2014 until present (much in the same fashion as Daniella Sprott’s pal, Jeff Poulter, the now gone with bags of loot, fake Clerk of Works) before which he worked for a small video company  for a few months and  temporary positions in two Dumbarton area housing associations, possibly engaged in tasks similar to his current temporary role in Thistle Housing. There is not even a single mention of him on Savills’ websites, any of them, anywhere. A bit odd unless perhaps he is on a self employed here today, gone tomorrow basis with Savills via his small company and not directly employed by them.

* To view linkedin profiles in full, an account is required.

If you don’t have one and wish to peruse Mr McGuire’s employment profile, click 201110_bob_mcguire_cv   Bear in mind that employment profiles are always but always bummed up and should be savoured with care, especially, if you look at his profile, he claims to be a “SENIOR PROJECT CONSULANT”. Spelling and grammar not his strong points. Maybe CONSULTING a dikshonary (!) might be useful?  A bit of tongue in cheek usually helps here. RME

In addition, it seems that Bob is also an expert in asbestos induced diseases, as claimed on the website of one of his previous clients where he was employed for a whole three months. That might be helpful to those in Toryglen whose attics (and maybe water tanks) are riddled with asbestos.

Here’s the advertisement (suitably enhanced) in the Scottish Federation of Housing Association’s website yesterday. See the full details here. Also in the Scottish Housing News here. Seventeen days to notify an interest if any association fancies a challenge.  If  it  looks like  a firesale,  if  it  smells  like  a firesale,  it  is  a firesale.