Alan Bowes, the founder and chairman of the collapsed London & Edinburgh Swallow Group, has gone into hiding with his girlfriend Andrena Salter.
He built Swallow Group into Britain's ninth largest pub and hotel group but administrators are now tackling an apparent £60m hole in the books.
According to The Mail on Sunday, Bowes has been trading on borrowed time and insiders are surprised it took so long for the house of cards to fall.
The Mail on Sunday (Financial Mail) 08/10/06 page 3
