JANE BRADLEY

THE founder of a TV advertising firm that went bust has offered to sell the technology behind the business for £1 to help investors claw back some of the money they lost when his business collapsed.

Mark Greenhalgh said he would sell off the intellectual property rights to the software used for his firm Cabtivate if the prospective buyer was willing to run the company based on the existing infrastructure set up in taxis in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bristol.

Mr Greenhalgh's business idea was to screen adverts on televisions in the back of black taxis for a "nominal sum".

Edinburgh drivers who signed up to four-year purchase agreements with the company still owe £104 a month to a leasing firm for the purchase of the screens - but are no longer receiving any income from Cabtivate, which paid them a monthly sum to screen adverts in their cabs.

Mr Greenhalgh said that if the intellectual property rights for the software, currently owned by him personally rather than Cabtivate, are bought by the same person who takes on the liquidated company, the firm could start trading profitably again and the 200 drivers across the UK who already have screens installed in their cabs would once again start to make money from the scheme.

A number of prospective buyers are believed to have already shown an interest in buying Cabtivate - including two London-based media companies and a firm from overseas.

Former taxi driver Mr Greenhalgh, 42, who claims an error by the Bank of Scotland left him with a funding gap in his accounts that contributed to the collapse of his firm in January, said he could sell the software independently for tens of thousands of pounds - but pledged he would not profit from an enterprise that had left his former colleagues out of pocket.

He said: "It was all going brilliantly until August last year when we went to the bank to seek funding to ramp up the installation of the screens into cabs in more cities, including London.

"The irony of it is that we were a profitable company turning over more than £1 million a year.

"The fact we went bust was not because we did anything wrong."

He said the firm decided to take out an "invoice discounting" agreement with the Bank of Scotland to allow it to pay for screen units in about 200 extra black taxis.

But Mr Greenhalgh said a bank error last November meant he was unable to pay off creditors, which he claims eventually led to the company's insolvency.

In a letter dated November 23, the bank said: "Due to a recent banking error Cabtivate Media's banking facilities were seriously affected. This banking error resulted in a restriction on the company's cash flow which in turn led to the bank rejecting payment requests from Cabtivate customers and suppliers.

"This error has now been rectified and normal banking facilities restored."

But Mr Greenhalgh claims a second error a month later left his company insolvent and forced it into liquidation.

Mr Greenhalgh also came under fire from drivers last week after it emerged he had set up a new company, Tapinto, to supply information screens for saloon cars, although he denied the scheme was similar.

A meeting was due to be held this morning by liquidator Begbie Traynor for Cabtivate's 60-plus creditors at the Roxburghe Hotel on Charlotte Square.

The Bank of Scotland refused to comment.

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