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Glenda Wynyard responds to critics, bids adieu

Glenda Wynyard, the chief executive and founder of The Media Counsel, which was recently placed into liquidation, has formally responded to her detractors.

I am somewhat dismayed and distressed by the misinformation that is being fed into the various industry websites and I would like to rectify some of this. These are:

  1. Watch & Win Limited – Richard Hayes and Troy Elliot were the two directors of this company. They approached me in my capacity as managing director of Universal McCann and then McCann Erickson. Watch & Win, and the directors, were investigated by the Department of Internal Affairs and were dealt with through the court system. At no time was McCann Erickson, Glenda Wynyard or any other McCann staff member under investigation by the DIA for inappropriate actions. I spent five days in court as the DIA’s witness.
  2. Staff – all staff were informed that they would be paid and they should be settled as part of the liquidation process. Only one month’s income is owing (payable on the 25th January for the month of January) plus any holiday pay (however most people had just taken leave over the Christmas period) and any other monies that may be payable under the liquidation process. It would have occurred quicker but see point three.
  3. Liquidation – this has been held up by some of the creditors who determined that they wished to appoint their own liquidator as they did not wish to support the liquidator that I suggested. I don’t know how long that this will take to occur now given that creditors need to go through quite a lengthy process as yet no one has advised me as to whom they would like appointed.
  4. Sarah Norrie and Mediacom were not aware that this was going to take place ahead of time. I also tried to contact Kath Watson, who was in Australia at the time. I tried to keep as much of the business together in one lump as I could so that as many as the staff could be walked into a role. I did not receive any monies to do this. Mediacom is not responsible for the demise of our business.
  5. $2.4m shareholder loan – this is a reference to my shareholder’s account which is overdrawn. It is not a loan; it is four years of drawings, mortgage payments and an intercompany transaction that took place upon the advice of our external accountant at the time and now sits as drawings (which I don’t physically have) in my shareholder account. By the way, this represents around 2% of our net billings over this period of time. My actual earnings were much less than this.
  6. Ransacked offices – personal items that I paid for with my own money were removed; plant and equipment is at the TMC premises and awaits sale. These items do need removing soon because the landlord would like to rent the premises out to new tenants.

I just want all of you to know that I fought to keep my business going because I had clients that I loved, staff that I cared for and a business with strong craft skills that was growing. My failing is that I have never liked the financial side of business, I am a craft person, and this is a fact that anyone who came into contact with me knows as I am completely open about that. I paid literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last 14 months to a range of mentors, advisors, business managers, financiers and external accounting organisations to advise and assist me because I understood my shortcoming in this area.

I could have walked away with literally millions over the past 12 months but I didn’t do that. I stayed and fought to keep the business I was so proud of going. I have literally walked away with very little to show for my efforts apart from a crushed ego, a massive mortgage, debts to media owners and trade, along with the loss of my 27 year career, a shattered family and the benefit of hindsight which is of little use right now. I will no doubt be bankrupted over the next few months as well as all the personal losses that comes with this. What more would the “anonymous” like from me? I am distraught – not happy, not smug, not cosy  – but distraught over what has occurred. I don’t take any of this lightly. I don’t take that people and companies haven’t been paid lightly. I don’t take that some staff don’t have jobs lightly. I don’t take that clients’ business has been disrupted lightly. This is my doing and I accept that.

There are so many ifs … but hindsight is a great thing. Yes, the recession hit us. Our same client billings were at 38% of what they were the previous year. Had we had these clients billing at the same levels plus the new business we had taken on then our revenue streams may have been able to see us through this year and into more comfortable space.

You people that haven’t the balls to put your name to your posts and those that have never had to run your own business should take stock of yourselves. The feasting frenzy over the demise of Glenda Wynyard and TMC is actually quite disgusting because we had to cease trading – with no international agency to prop us up and no revenue for three months the fragility of our situation hit us very quickly. It was dreadful. Anyone sitting near to me knew very well the battles that I had and how much I tried. Every time I thought I would be able to do something, another block would be put in our way. I had one last hope but it didn’t work out in the end for which I am endlessly sorry. The decision to go into liquidation occurred overnight as any other options that I had were just too many days or weeks away. And that is it.

This is the last you will ever hear from me on this subject as the professionals need to do what they need to do well to help me tidy this mess up. To all those that have offered me support and well wishes, many thanks; to all those that I have caused distress, again, I am so very sorry but once a liquidator is appointed there are two particular debtors that combined owe a significant amount of monies and I am sure that much will be settled once they are pursued through the correct channels.

All the best

Glenda

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