'We're not sipping champagne like the Farepak bosses'

British corporate boss not hurting -- unlike his customers. Farepak was a Christmas savings scheme

As Sir Clive Thompson, the former boss of Farepak, enjoyed Christmas with his wife in his eight-bedroom manor house in Sevenoaks, Kent, thousands of his former customers faced a rather less extravagant Christmas Day. While Sir Clive, 63, was on holiday last month at the £2,500 a night Alvear Palace hotel in Buenos Aires, Louise McDaid was working overtime as a home carer to make up for the money that she lost when the Farepak Christmas savings scheme collapsed. The mother of two was one of the 150,000 people who lost hundreds of pounds each when Farepak’s parent company, European Home Retail, went into administration in October.

Mrs McDaid, 42, and her husband, James, lost £400 that they had saved since the beginning of January. She is now chairman of the Ayrshire-based Farepak Victims Committee and has consulted a lawyer to try to bring a case against those responsible.

At her home in West Kilbride, Glasgow, yesterday, she said: “I’m not going to let Sir Clive Thompson or any of the others ruin Christmas for us.

“The past couple of months have been so tough and it’s that bit harder today because it’s all been building up to Christmas Day. We won’t be sipping on champagne like the Farepak bosses who are sitting in their million-pound mansions and there will be none of the extra-special treats that we’d saved so hard for.

“Maybe the bosses should spare a thought for all of the victims who worked so desperately hard for money that was supposed to make this day so special. Luckily, through scrimping and saving, we managed to get the children some presents, but they’ve had to go without and Christmas dinner won’t be the same as it would have been. There aren’t any luxury items on our table — just the basics. But we’re determined not to let it ruin our day. We’ve just got to make the best of it.

“There are thousands out there who are suffering more than us. Some can’t even afford to buy anything for their children so I hope the bosses think about that when they tuck into their dinner today.”

Like most other victims, Mrs McDaid was given some consolation thanks to the relief fund set up to help them. She received £70 from the donations that poured into the Farepak Response Fund from companies and members of the public. The fund raised £6.8 million, enough to pay customers 15 per cent of what they had lost.

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(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)