Adam persuades Brian to sell. Matt explains all to Lilian.

Radio Times: The truth comes out for Lilian.

Characters: Adam, Alan, Brian, Lilian, Matt, Shula

• Brian and Adam are erecting fences. Brian’s smarting about where Tom’s found the money, and isn’t going to sell but build up the business himself. Adam’s annoyed remembering Brian’s hot air about spending more time with Jennifer and Ruairi. He gives a litany of problems not selling would bring, including Tom going to court, loosing, and the papers saying “Grasping uncle takes young entrepreneur’s name and business”. Brian gives in, he’ll sell, but he wants a damn good offer.
• Lilian says she tried quiet and respectable with Ralph but it bored her senseless, she knows Matt sails close to the wind and doesn’t care, but she’d like to understand what’s gone on. Matt explains. C3PL is owned 51% by Chalkie, 25% by Matt, they’re the directors. A few others own the rest. C3PL made secured loans from a ten million pot and it all went well. The profits were good and it started to make unsecured loans, including dodgy ones to Matt and Chalkie’s own companies to help cash flow. It all would have been fine but a £1.8M loan to Chalkie’s friend defaulted and the builder of the Hollerton flats they were developing went down soon after, owing money to C3PL. So C3PL borrowed five million from the bank, with the directors signing a letter saying everything was peachy when it wasn’t. Then the credit crunch hit and two months ago C3PL was made insolvent. Matt wrongly thought the administrator wasn’t too sharp but he passed everything onto the police. Still, they can’t take the house, though everything else is at risk; Matt thinks he will see his life smashed to pieces.