Le Maitre - Perfectly Legal But Boy Does It Suck

[Brian]

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/people/family-of-peterborough-man-killed-in-firework-factory-explosion-call-for-justice-as-firm-wont-have-to-pay-ps500000-fine-despite-safety-breaches-4101376

[Ynot]

Not entirely sure how to take this... 😞
I would hazard that the moves to liquidate the original company then re-start under a 'different' name will have been mostly under the advice of the corporate lawyers trying to limit the exposure of their bosses, and doing so in a different situation MIGHT be something I'd sort of understand, but here, where there appear to have been some serious breaches in basic safety practices, it does smack of panic avoidance of just doing the right thing... 😮

There is surely a moral responsibility apart from the now proven legal one for the company to step up, and considering Le Maitre is one of the major players in the pyro industry (we've ALL used their gear, right..?) you'd perhaps have expected much more from them.....

So - as I say, not sure how I feel about this overall...

[kerry davies]

Normal service resumed in the jurisprudence of feudal England. This is a prima facie case for charges of corporate manslaughter but that won't happen either. The fact that they immediately went "Phoenix" suggests that their insurers point blank refused to accept a claim and the fact that the police haven't acted after the 4th fatality associated with that site since 1988 is the really worrying thing.

A fireman was killed and 107 injured, 84 needing hospital treatment back in 1989 after a truck delivering to Le Maitre Fireworks blew up while using a totally innocent plant hire company's yard to turn around in. ICI/Nobel Explosives were fined £250,000 back then. HSE published a detailed report.

Le Maitre themselves were fined £2,000 in 1988 after an employee died fitting fuses to a display and fined £15,000 in 1990 when another employee died while packing a very large firework which exploded.

[Jivemaster]

LeMaitre set themselves up to be the major pyro supplier to the theatre industry, wiping out all the previous suppliers, so now without leMaitre there is little or nothing available for the whole industry.

[gareth]

[Came back to edit this post after some reflection, as if I were to leave my opinions of how Rick Wilson and Karen Cornacchia have behaved in relation to this young chap losing his life as a result of working practices at Le Maitre being found wanting, I suspect it might open the BR up to potential legal repercussions.

Suffice to say that if I was at the helm of a hypothetical manufacturing company which was found to be directly responsible for one of its employees losing their life while at work due to safety and working practices being found wanting, I'd like to think I'd have enough human decency to not be interested solely in distancing myself from the entire sorry episode and saving my own skin...]

Edited April 14, 2023 by gareth

[Stuart91]

I understand why limited liability exists for companies. Very few people would start businesses knowing that they would be personally ruined if it failed. 

But as Gareth has said, there's something amiss in this kind of situation. 

A "phoenix" manoeuvre can stick in the throat. I had one customer do that to me, a "college" no less. They owed enough money that we issued a winding-up petition, and they instantly liquidated. Then a new company took everything else on - premises, students, accreditation, etc. - and carried on as if nothing had happened. 

I was annoyed enough about that, having knocked my pan in for a good few shows without payment. Not sure how I'd react if a company had been responsible for the death of a family member and then seeming to carry on regardless. 

[J Pearce]

7 hours ago, Jivemaster said:

LeMaitre set themselves up to be the major pyro supplier to the theatre industry, wiping out all the previous suppliers, so now without leMaitre there is little or nothing available for the whole industry.

Those seeking an alternative may find that Wells Fireworks can provide what they need.

[Ynot]

16 minutes ago, J Pearce said:

Those seeking an alternative may find that Wells Fireworks can provide what they need.

The only problem there is the incompatibility with any plug-in effects for those who already have a stock of LeM gear... 😞
Though I think someone did say that adapters may be available...

[slx02]

9 hours ago, kerry davies said:

A fireman was killed and 107 injured, 84 needing hospital treatment back in 1989 after a truck delivering to Le Maitre Fireworks blew up while using a totally innocent plant hire company's yard to turn around in. ICI/Nobel Explosives were fined £250,000 back then. HSE published a detailed report.

The report was an interesting read. I didn’t realise what a chequered past they had. 

[gareth]

As Stuart says... a 'phoenix' company rising from the ashes of a bankrupt one, with a queue of angry but disappointed creditors, is one thing. Creating a situation whereby one of your employees is killed in the workplace and then simply turning your back on the situation, not even bothering to show up at court to face his grieving family, plumbs much lower depths.

[KevinE]

difficult to glean exactly what happened from a newspaper. They're not the most accurate source of facts, believe me.

[Jivemaster]

I personally have used four other manufacturers' products over the years, whether they are all still in trade sales now who knows. Le Maitre had a fair range and had a distributor near me.

[Derek Tallent]

8 hours ago, KevinE said:

difficult to glean exactly what happened from a newspaper. They're not the most accurate source of facts, believe me.

Indeed. If you look at the last set of accounts for the financial year 2019 the company lost £500k that year and then the pandemic hit. The phoenixing didn't happen until 2021, just over two years after the poor chap lost his life. If you were going to phoenix to avoid a HSE investigation/prosecution, wouldn't you do it almost immediately after the incident.

I may be wrong, but I think HSE can still prosecute the directors even if the company has gone into administration or liquidation.

[Jivemaster]

15 hours ago, Ynot said:

The only problem there is the incompatibility with any plug-in effects for those who already have a stock of LeM gear... 😞
Though I think someone did say that adapters may be available...

Adaptors to use SkyHigh products with the LeMaitre firing systems were once available, I guess they still are. SkyHigh having become Illusion Pyrotechnics, and their products being available through a few trade wholesalers.

[david.elsbury]

12 hours ago, KevinE said:

difficult to glean exactly what happened from a newspaper. They're not the most accurate source of facts, believe me.

Yes, but there’re surely still able to show up to court?