Ashley Reading and Daughter Cam Reading Face Fallout as Fortress Capital Collapse

A major financial scandal has hit headlines after the collapse of Fortress Capital Partners in 2023. The firm was run by businessman Ashley Reading, 55, and his daughter Cam Reading, 25, who is also the girlfriend of footballer Scott McTominay.

Fortress Capital promised investors big returns — up to 18% a year. But by March 2024, it had gone into administration, owing £18 million to over 230 creditors.

McTominay, now playing for Napoli, is said to have invested £1 million of his personal funds, and £1.32 million from his company, into the failed business. Singer Shane Lynch from Boyzone also lost money — around £730,000.

The company borrowed cash from its investors and lent it out at higher interest rates. Some of it was reportedly given to one high-net-worth person and corporate clients.

Around the same time, another company linked to Mr. Reading, Rose Cottage Farm Ltd, began facing legal trouble. It had purchased a £2.5 million mansion called Furzefield in Orpington, Kent. The company later failed to keep up with payments, and now the property is at the centre of a court battle.

The six-bedroom house sits on a gated estate and was later listed for sale at £3.95 million. But mortgage firm TFG Capital No.2 Limited, which lent £2.85 million for the property in 2022, wants to seize the home after Rose Cottage Farm Ltd defaulted on the loan by April 2023.

Court records show that Ashley Reading and his family had been living in the house since early 2023, despite the loan agreement stating that the property could not be used as a residence.

In May 2023, a High Court judge ordered the company to hand over the house to court-appointed administrators by July 11, 2024. But Reading appealed the decision and won in the Court of Appeal, arguing that the High Court action was “an abuse of process” since a separate case in Bromley County Court was already in progress.

The appeal court said the eviction case will now continue at the county court. The judges made it clear their ruling does not affect that case’s outcome.

Meanwhile, McTominay and Cam Reading have moved to a home near Lago Patria, a coastal lake in Naples, where he now plays. Cam, a model, worked closely with her father as Fortress Capital’s head of investor relations. She also worked for another of his businesses called Bounce.

Despite the luxury lifestyle, the legal troubles back home in the UK continue to mount.