Bid-rigging: 'Secret millionaire' Chek Whyte buys Thomas Fish

East Midlands property developer Chek Whyte has fought off Rok and Sol Construction to buy Thomas Fish.

The entrepreneur, who once appeared on Channel 4 TV programme 'The Secret Millionaire' is reported to have paid less than £500,000 for the company's forward order book.

He also revealed that he would re-hire 60 of the 85 staff that were sent home after the company went into administration last week.

They are expected to resume work on Monday.

Thomas Fish was thought to have had debts of around £5m, including an unpaid £1.4m bill from a client when the administrators were brought in, just days after it was alleged by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to have engaged in anti-competitive tendering practices, along with 111 other firms.