Williams denies rumours of his departure as doubts grow over TBS
Total Broker Solutions (TBS), the network proposition created by former Biba chief executive Mike Williams, will need refinancing to survive beyond September, market sources have claimed.
Sources said that when TBS was created last year, the company's backers agreed to funding which would only see it through to the end of September this year.
"Unless TBS gets a substantial income they're not going to be able to pay their overheads after September," one source said.
The source said that unless the company refinances, it may have to close its doors.
TBS chairman and majority shareholder Bob Beckett said he was not sure about the financial position of TBS, and could not confirm whether it would need a cash injection.
"It's a start-up and a relatively small operation at the moment," Beckett said.
"I think everybody has been caught out by how slow the pick-up to [FSA regulation] has been. Obviously we've had to gear our business plan accordingly."
Williams confirmed that both the TBS offering for larger brokers, and Community Brokers Solutions (CBS), aimed at smaller brokers, were now trading with 30 members each. But he declined to reveal the names of any member brokers.
Williams said that neither offering could be classified as a network.
Speaking about CBS, Williams said: "It has become pretty plain to us that the use of the word network brings with it quite a lot of negative connotations.
They don't like what they think is meant by a network offering.
"It's much more of a consultancy, facilitation, enabling service now," Williams said.
Sources said that with the network proposition not working out the way he had planned, Williams was considering his options.
But Williams denied he was in discussions to leave TBS. "I haven't been talking to anybody about that. It really is absolute nonsense," he said.
