The fall and fall of Rikki Hunt

Once upon a time, not so long ago, the likes of Mr Bluh and Mr Perkins were fond of telling the people of Swindon what a great person they thought Mr John Richard ‘Rikki’ Hunt was. How they thought he was a great person to be leading a company to which they had loaned almost £½M of Swindon taxpayers’ money because, in their view, he was a very experienced business man from which Swindon would benefit.

Of course not all experience is equal. Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards had much experience of ski-jumping… and of coming last. Mr Hunt has now managed the same feat as a business man, going bankrupt to the tune of over £1M, including over £400,000 to the tax-man. As he filed for bankruptcy on 8 March this year, it also puts some perspective on his apparent generosity in ‘gifting’ to Swindon Borough Council his stake in the failed wi-fi company for which he had convinced the aforementioned gullible councillors to part with our money. It would have been no financial loss to him, only to his creditors.

Mr Hunt’s involvement with wifi company Digital City (UK) Ltd was via a consultancy company he set up for that purpose, Avidity Consulting Ltd. That company is now in the process of being struck off the register of companies. How much Avidity received from Digital City — and so indirectly from Swindon taxpayers — for its consultancy services has never been revealed. Also of note, before anyone is overcome with sympathy for Mr Hunt’s predicament, is that his wife, Laura Hunt, is not bankrupt, remaining a company director. For the Hunts, Rikki’s bankruptcy may be little more than a minor business inconvenience, rather than a case of serious financial hardship.