Receivers appointed to Cullen’s firm

For years, he hired or fired aspiring entrepreneurs — but time has now been called on Bill Cullen’s main business interests.

Ulster Bank has confirmed it has appointed a receiver to Mr Cullen’s Glencullen Holdings.

“It’s a sad occasion for Bill Cullen,” announced the self-made millionaire’s spokesman.

“Ulster Bank has appointed Kavanagh Fennell as receivers to his Glencullen Holdings organisation.

“The Bill Cullen Motor Group [BCMG] is Glencullen’s main operation, with the two former Renault dealerships in Dublin, one in Airside Motor Park in Swords and the other in Liffey Valley Motor Mall.”

Mr Cullen — who fronted The Apprentice on TV3 — became Renault’s distributor in Ireland in 1986.

He claimed he bought the operation for £1 at the time.

However, in July, BCMG lost the Renault franchise for two of its businesses in Ennis and Galway.

In August, the lucrative 26-year relationship between Mr Cullen and Renault came to an end.

A spokesman for the Glencullen group said after 55 years in the car sales business Mr Cullen had “come up against an unprecedented decline in consumer confidence, coupled with depreciation of up to 70% on lavish car showrooms”.

The problem with the car industry was that consumers were not buying new cars, the spokesman said.

The most recent accounts available for Glencullen holdings show the group recorded a pre-tax loss of €1.4m for the year to the end of Dec 2010.

This was a vast improvement on the previous year when the company recorded a pre-tax loss of almost €10.5m.

Despite the improving figures, the spokesman said another harsh budget was the nail in the coffin for Mr Cullen’s car dealerships.

“With the dreaded December budget on the horizon, the poor forecast for 2013 car sales does not give any confidence to the banks. After 55 years in the motor industry, Bill extends his thanks and gratitude to his customers, staff, and supporters,” he said.