AN ANNOUNCEMENT is expected today from the liquidator of advertising and marketing group Wallace Barnaby and it is hoped that it will shed some light on the size of the debts it has left behind and the number of creditors looking to get their money back.

To that extent, there are some slight similarities with the Landsbanki investors. They have been guaranteed 30p in the pound and the final settlement should be higher when other assets have been realised. Wallace Barnaby creditors have no idea how much they might have lost and among them may well be the local taxpayer because the States has been using its event management facility.

And, like Landsbanki savers, those owed money by WB will be asking how an apparently secure business closed so suddenly.

While the credit crunch has been blamed by one principal along with the loss of a major client, parent company Ekay’s statements suggest that there was a dramatic change in WB’s fortunes shortly after its acquisition in 2006.

At that stage, the CI business was worth paying £1.75m. for and putting its co-founder on a substantial package complete with nearly two million shares.

And as recently as last year, the Channel Island operation was turning over more than £13.4m. compared to the UK’s £9.6m. and was the most profitable part of the business.

If, however, the key element of WB’s turnover – international media buying – was transferred to the UK, it would help explain the change in the company’s fortunes which, from Ekay’s statements, appear to have pre-dated the credit crunch.

The loss of a key client, which emerged yesterday, is clearly a material factor in this, but it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that for whatever reason Wallace Barnaby ceased to hold any interest for Ekay plc and so has been dropped.

Of interest to creditors – apart from how much they might get back – is how quickly the advertising and marketing, PR and event management elements of the former business are resurrected.

What emerges will be debt-free and with far fewer staff and it is difficult not to have concerns about Ekay’s motives in all this.