Category: 0 Archive

Asset Recovery Associates Limited (ARA) was incorporated as a private company in July 2011. The linked company, Asset Recovery Resources (ARR) Limited was incorporated as a private company in December 2012. Both had the same registered office address in Warrington.

The companies held themselves out as being able to recover funds lost by victims of failed alternative investment schemes.

However, an investigation by the Insolvency Service, launched following complaints, found ARR’s claims to be false. The reality was that there was little or no prospect of funds being recovered.

The court heard that ARR’s staff cold-called victims offering to recover their money in return for the payment of an advance fee.

Victims described the sales staff employed by the company as ‘aggressive and persistent’ and claiming, entirely falsely, they had been appointed by the Insolvency Service.

The court heard that neither company cooperated with the investigation. Mr Alexander Goodrich, the director of both companies, stated that ARR was a dormant company that had been hijacked by fraudsters and that he had no knowledge of the cold-calling activity.

Mr Goodrich admitted that ARA had been involved in recovering monies lost by individuals in investment scams but told the court that he took the fees out of monies recovered and did not charge clients up front. He failed to produce the company’s accounting records to the investigators, claiming he no longer had access to them.

The lack of records has meant it has not been possible to find out how the companies got hold of investors’ details.

Commenting, David Hill , a chief investigator with the Insolvency Service, said:

ARR employed aggressive sales tactics to prey on people who had already lost money, seemingly with the aim of scamming them.

Members of the public, who have lost money in any kind of investment, should be wary of anyone calling them out-of-the-blue, claiming to be able to recoup their investment losses.

The Insolvency Service will investigate and shut down the activities of such companies.

On 22 October 2018, the court found that it was in the public interest that both companies be wound up.

Notes to editors

Asset Recovery Associates Limited was incorporated as a private company on 4 July 2011. The current registered office is located at 264 Old Liverpool Road, Warrington, WA5 1DZ.

The current recorded director of the company is Mr Alexander Goodrich.

Asset Recovery Resources Limited was incorporated as a private company on 27 December 2012. The current registered office is located at 264 Old Liverpool Road, Warrington, WA5 1DZ.

The current recorded director of the company is Mr Alexander Goodrich.

The petitions were presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 20 June 2018. By virtue of the winding up orders made on 22 October 2018 the Official Receiver is liquidator of the companies.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Further information about live company investigations is available here.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London, SW1P 2HT. Telephone: 0207 637 1110 Email: piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

BVM, a Manchester-based company and its sister companies, all sold customers services to improve their online business profiles, all, to little or no commercial benefit.

All four companies have been wound up following investigations by the Insolvency Service.

In the case of BVM, the alleged customer offer was to manage company business profiles on ‘Google Places’ for business.

The first of the four companies operating the model to be wound-up (in April 2015), was On Line Platform Management Consultants Ltd, following that the second was Movette Ltd in July 2017 before the third TBL (UK) Ltd, in August 2018.

BVM continued the same or a very similar business to that previously carried on by Movette Ltd (Movette) (which was wound up on 28 July 2017 on the grounds that it operated against the public interest).

The Insolvency Service investigated the company’s affairs following complaints from customers. But the investigation was severely limited due to a lack of co-operation from those in control of BVM who failed to produce business documents.

The investigation established, and in winding up the company the Court accepted, that BVM had continued the objectionable business model previously carried on by Movette, by continuing to target the former customers of Movette.

Similarly, customers received little or no commercial benefit from the Google Places management service they purchased from BVM on an annual basis.

Furthermore, the court heard that BVM employed inappropriate and objectionable methods of debt collection and that the company had been abandoned by those controlling its day to day operations.

On 2 October 2018, the High Court sitting in Manchester heard the petition presented on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy.

In the absence of evidence submitted by the company, who failed to attend the hearing, Deputy District Judge Heseltine wound-up the company, in the public interest.

Commenting, David Hope, Chief Investigator with the Insolvency Service, said:

Beyond Vision Media Ltd continued an objectionable business model that used inappropriate methods of trading designed to extract money from businesses under false pretences.

The Insolvency Service will take action to shut down such rogue businesses. Additionally, the business community should take steps to verify the credentials of any third party that contacts them claiming to be continuing the services previously provided by Movette Ltd and/or Beyond Vision Media Ltd.

Notes to editors

Beyond Vision Media Ltd – company registration number 8586915 – was incorporated on 27 June 2013. The company’s registered office is at Unit 77 Cariocca Business Park, 2 Sawley Road, Manchester, M40 8BB.

The petition to wind-up Beyond Vision Media Ltd was presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 3 August 2018. The company was wound up on 2 October 2018 and the Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit (North) has been appointed as liquidator.

On Line Platform Management Consultants Ltd was incorporated on 25 January 2012. Its registered office was at Suite 125, 23 New Mount Street, Manchester M4 4DE.

The petition to wind up Online Platform Management Consultants Ltd was presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 03 February 2015. The Official Receiver was appointed as provisional liquidator on 10 February 2015. The company was wound up on 13 April 2015 and the Official Receiver was appointed as liquidator. The director of Online Platform Management Consultants Ltd, Roy Junior De-Vent, was subsequently disqualified from acting as a director for a period of 11 years.

Movette Ltd – company registration number 08705982 – was incorporated on 25 September 2013. The company’s registered office is at 86 Stonemere Drive, Radcliffe, Manchester M26 1QX and it traded from 23 New Mount Street, Manchester M4 4DE.

The petition to wind-up Movette Ltd was presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 12 May 2017. The Official Receiver was appointed provisional liquidator of the company on 18 May 2017. The company was wound up on 28 July 2017 and the Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator.

TBL (UK) Ltd (Company number 10084021), was wound up on 20 August 2018.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Further information about live company investigations is available here. The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

By virtue of the appointment of the Official Receiver all public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 2nd Floor, 3 Piccadilly Place, London Road, Manchester, M1 3BN. Tel: 0161 234 8531 Email: piu.north@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

This is due to the retailers’ annual groceries turnover now exceeding £1bn.

The Groceries Supply Code of Practice (The Code) sets out how such grocery retailers should treat their suppliers and aims to make sure that they do not abuse their commercial power. For example, retailers bound by the Code cannot make changes to the terms of supply retrospectively and must provide notice of and reasons for no longer using a supplier.

Compliance with the Code is managed by the independent Groceries Code Adjudicator. The CMA regularly monitors UK retailers to see if they meet the criteria to be subject to the Code, as it only applies to those companies with an annual groceries turnover of more than £1bn.

The Code was created in 2009 following an investigation by the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) predecessor, the Competition Commission (CC). The CC investigated the supply of groceries in the UK and found that some suppliers of larger retailers were being treated unfairly. This meant suppliers were less likely to innovate and invest, leading to less choice and availability for customers.

Peter Hill, Head of Remedies Enforcement at the CMA, said:

These rules mean that suppliers are protected from unfair business practices, and retailers can trade with confidence on a level playing field. Businesses supplying Ocado and B&M will now also benefit from this protection.

Other retailers subject to the Code are Asda Stores Limited, Co-operative Group Limited, Marks & Spencer PLC, Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC, J Sainsbury PLC, Tesco PLC, Waitrose Limited, Aldi Stores Limited, Iceland Foods Limited, and Lidl UK GmbH.

Notes to editors

1. The CMA has designated Ocado and B&M Homestores under the Groceries (Supply Chain Practices) Market Investigation Order 2009, which means that they now need to comply with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.
2. The CMA agreed with Government, as part of the Groceries Code Adjudicator Review, in February 2018, to formalise its current activities by reviewing publicly available information on an annual basis. Where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that any retailer may have reached the turnover threshold specified in the Order, the CMA will request further evidence from it. This will allow the CMA to assess whether that retailer should be added to the list of designated retailers.
3. The Groceries Code Adjudicator Act, which created the GCA, came into force on 25 June 2013. The GCA is funded by a levy on regulated retailers with a UK annual turnover of more than £1bn.
4. Media enquiries should be directed to the CMA’s press team: press@cma.gov.uk, or 020 3738 6460.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

Today the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer addressed around 150 Chairs and Chief Executives of UK businesses and business group leaders about this week’s Budget and progress in the Brexit negotiations.

The Prime Minister opened the event by saying that, thanks to the hard work and sacrifices made by the British people since the financial crisis, the public finances are in much better health. She explained that the government will continue to take a balanced approach. This has enabled the government to make important spending decisions in this Budget to invest in public services, boost living standards, and support business as we build a new economy for a post-Brexit Britain.

She set out that the government would work to build a Britain that would be unequivocally pro-business through enhancing competitiveness, helping businesses plan for the future, and using the modern Industrial Strategy to create the right environment for businesses to thrive. She noted the importance of working closely with business to achieve this and ensure that the UK continues to lead the world in terms of innovation.

The Prime Minister then provided an update on progress in the Brexit negotiations, before the Chancellor addressed the group about the broader state of the economy and his approach to this week’s Budget.

The Chancellor spoke about the resilience of the British economy, noting the growth in the number of jobs in the economy. He spoke about the productivity challenge and acknowledged that the government had a role to help rectify this, including through driving the R&D agenda and ensuring that benefits were spread out across the whole of the UK.

The businesses present welcomed the opportunity to speak to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor and feedback directly on the Budget. Business leaders asked specific questions on the Budget such as the Digital Services Tax and the apprenticeship levy, and broader questions on the Brexit negotiations and preparedness.

The government has today opened applications for specialist, not-for-profit education providers to apply to run the UK’s first Secure School. This provides a custodial setting for young people which is focused on education and health services.

This is the very first example of this establishment in the UK. Based at Medway, it will offer up to 70 places for boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 17 and will predominantly serve the South East, including London – a crucial area of demand. Headteachers will be given complete autonomy to run a tailored curriculum.

Justice Minister Edward Argar said:

Today’s publication of the ‘How to Apply Guidance’ is a crucial step in our ongoing commitment to reform youth custody and equip children with the skills they need to live successful, crime-free lives on release.

Secure Schools will lead the way across the youth estate by focusing on tailored early intervention and putting education, healthcare and physical activity at the heart of rehabilitation.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System Lord Agnew said:

All children deserve the chance to fulfil their potential regardless of their background or circumstances – a high quality education can be the key to helping young offenders get their lives back on track.

That is why we have worked with the Ministry of Justice in the development of Secure Schools so that education, care and health are at the heart of youth justice.

Academies are rich in expertise and innovation that could be extended to helping these young people and I hope to see them putting themselves forward for this.

The Ministry of Justice has engaged with and listened to over 150 stakeholders to ensure the Secure Schools model is built on evidence and shaped by best practice.

The application process has been designed to ensure a wide range of organisations is able to make a strong application, including those with less experience of bidding for government contracts – resulting in a provider with genuine expertise and experience in this field. It will run until February 2019 before a provider is announced in the summer – with the aim of the school opening in Autumn 2020.

Applicants will be asked to demonstrate a child focussed ethos and show their experience of working with children who have undergone significant trauma.

£5 million will be invested to redevelop Medway Secure Training Centre in to a Secure School, including extensive refurbishment of the existing classrooms and residential areas as well as improvement to sports provision on the site. This work will benefit from the findings of the review of sport in youth custody and efforts ongoing as part of the Education and Employment Strategy – both published this year.

Secure Schools are just one part of a package of reforms to the youth estate, including developing Enhanced Support Units to provide specialist support to children with the most complex needs. We are also expanding frontline staff capacity in public-sector YOIs by 20% equating to over 120 new recruits.

Notes to editors

• The government is developing a specific inspection regime to robustly monitor the performance of Secure Schools.
• Secure Schools will be run by secure school academy trusts and will be governed and run under the same legislation as children’s homes and academies.

The partnerships, which were announced as part of the Budget 2018, will secure a total of £653 million in grant funding from the Affordable Homes Programme to deliver affordable homes through housing associations. The deals include homes for social rent in areas of high affordability pressures.

The housing associations for this new wave are:

Platform Housing Group (following the merger of Fortis and Waterloo Housing Associations on the 1st October); Guinness and Stonewater (in partnership); Optivo; Southern Housing Group; Orbit; Thirteen; Vivid.

These are in addition to the eight housing association deals announced in early July – bringing the total number of additional affordable homes that will be delivered to 27,755.

Jackie Jacob, Homes England General Manager for Affordable Housing Programmes said:

“Homes England is working with housing associations across England who are prepared to be more ambitious to significantly increase housing delivery and we welcome these seven new partnerships announced in the Budget 2018.

“We have challenged housing associations to respond to a new way of engaging strategically with Homes England and the response has been excellent – we hope to be announcing more partnerships between Homes England and housing associations in the coming months.”

ENDS

For further media information please contact: Homes England press office on 0207 393 2201 or Patsy Cusworth on 0796772328 or patsy.cusworth@homesengland.gov.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

Strategic Partnerships

Partnership	Grant	No. of additional affordable starts to March 2022
Platform	£71.8m	1,800
Guiness & Stonewater	£224m	4,500
Optivo	£44.9m	1,000
Orbit	£128.8m	2,762
Southern	£55.1m	1,005
Thirteen	£40m	1,000
Vivid	£88.2m	1,408

About Homes England

Homes England is the Government’s housing accelerator. We have the appetite, influence, expertise and resources to drive positive market change.

By releasing more land to developers who want to make a difference, and investing in places of greatest need, to deliver new homes. Homes England welcomes partners who share their ambition to challenge the traditional norms and build better homes faster.

For more information click here or follow us on Twitter.

The funding announced in the Budget will see the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) team up with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) for the pilot project.

Employers and training providers will identify which digital skills are in short supply in the local area and design a targeted approach that can help people prepare to move into digital roles.

Greater Manchester is one of the largest digital clusters in the UK with almost 8,000 digital businesses employing more than 80,0000 people.

Digital Minister Margot James said:

We want everyone to benefit from the digital revolution and by working in partnership with industry we can make sure that we’re giving people the skills they need to succeed in the future.

Greater Manchester has a thriving and growing tech sector and as part of our modern Industrial Strategy we’re helping to make the UK one of the world’s most digitally skilled nations.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said:

Ensuring people in Greater Manchester have the skills they need to access the jobs that are being created in our outstanding digital and tech sector will be a key part of making our post-Brexit future a success.

Greater Manchester is already leading the way with the devolution of adult skills funding and creating our own Local Industrial Strategy, alongside the Government, to ensure everyone here can access good jobs and benefit from the growth in our economy. This project will help take this work even further.

Our devolved administrations are primed and ready to make decisions on key domestic agendas and with further devolution over areas like skills, we can truly make the difference people need.

The project will be co-funded with employers and will particularly look to encourage training provision that is offered flexibly so that those already in work or with other responsibilities can benefit from opportunities to develop new digital skills and move into exciting new roles.

This will support the Local Industrial Strategy for Greater Manchester and complement the devolution of adult skills funding which is making it more responsive to the needs of local employers.

The announcement builds on the other good news for Greater Manchester in the budget, following the plans outlined for the Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy.

The The progress statement published this week showcases the work that has been done so far by local leaders in the Northern Powerhouse who are working with the Government and businesses to identify economic opportunities that the region can seize in the years to come.