former property director of the Black Country Development Corporation. He was suspended from his post in June 1995—and he resigned in September—after it was reported by the Public Accounts Committee that he had spent over £9,000 of the corporation's money on his own private expenses during visits abroad, though he did repay the money. The committee also censured the corporation for "poor stewardship of public funds" and said that it had "lost control over the expenditure of public funds". However one of the companies that had been criticised by the Public Accounts Committee complained that its report contained errors and not all the evidence had not been considered. Following this, the National Audit Office, which had provided much of the evidence for the report, admitted that some of the involved parties had not been spoken to directly. Following a spell during which David Woodhall was acting chief executive, Collinson was formally replaced in early 1996 by Geoff Timbrell who had been the head of property at the London Docklands Development Corporation. Results By October 1996, The Times was reporting that the PDC had made little real progress. A year later, the corporation announced that MEPC plc, at the time the country's third largest property development company, had submitted a planning proposal for the Royal William Yard to include a 120,000 sq ft factory outlet retail centre based on its successful Clarks Village in Somerset. Expected to be completed in three years, the project was anticipated to create 500 new jobs and attract over 2 million visitors in its first year, boosting the city's economy by £40m. However English Heritage criticised the plans as being "fundamentally in conflict with the character of the architecture", and MEPC pulled out of the deal in September 1998. Although several proposals were made by other companies, none had come to fruition by 2000. After the PDC was dissolved in 1998, the National Audit Office reported that during its lifetime it had built of commercial floor space and 99 homes. Private sector finance amounting to £8m had been leveraged in and 427 new jobs created. About of new road and footpaths were put in place. A local newspaper reported that at the Royal William Yard the PDC had installed or reinstalled all main services, including telephone and data. It had also restored the swing bridge and refurbished the Brewhouse, and improved the road access to the