Press release: Fourth connected online advertising company shut down in public interest

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

Press Office

The Insolvency Service


4 Abbey Orchard Street
London
SW1P 2HT

This service is for journalists only. For any other queries, please contact the Insolvency Enquiry line on 0300 678 0015.

For all media enquiries outside normal working hours, please contact the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Press Office on 020 7215 1000.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:



Press release: Car hire company director picks up seven-year ban for failing to keep records

Graham Peter Hanson Pender was the managing director and major shareholder of Chauffeurline (UK) Limited. The company was incorporated on 8 March 2013 and had contracts with major airlines chauffeuring pilots to and from Edinburgh Airport and local hotels.

An Insolvency Service investigation followed the administration.

The Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard evidence that:

  • Mr Pender failed to ensure Chauffeurline (UK) Limited maintained and/or preserved adequate accounting records and failed to deliver these to the Administrators, as he is required to do
  • Chauffeurline had arrears with HMRC in excess of £60,000
  • Mr Pender made out cheques, payable to himself, in the final year of trading totalling £116,896.89 and has failed to provide company accounting records that would explain these transactions
  • company accounts for the year ended 31 May 2015 disclose fixed assets of £490,078.

Due to the lack of proper records, the Insolvency Service has been unable to sufficiently explain whether assets were disposed of at fair value and for the benefit of the company and its creditors.

On the 26 September 2018, the Secretary of State obtained an order against Mr Pender for failing to deliver and maintain/preserve adequate accounting records.

Rob Clarke, Chief Investigator Insolvent Investigations North, part of the Insolvency Service, commented:

Companies are under a legal duty to account for their income and expenditure and fulfilling that duty is a key component of the role of a director. There is no place in the corporate arena for those who neglect their responsibilities in this area.

All too often, the lack of records to explain transactions is used to cover up other, more serious misconduct and we cannot determine whether that was the case at Chauffeurline, a fact which is reflected in the lengthy ban now in place.

Mr Pender’s ban is effective from 18 October 2018 and lasts for a period of 7 years.

Notes to editors

Graham Peter Hanson Pender is of Edinburgh and his date of birth is 1959.

Chauffeurline (UK) Ltd (Company Reg. No. SC444545) was incorporated on the 8 March 2013.

The order was pronounced by Sheriff Holligan in the Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Steven Chesney appeared for the Insolvency Service and no one appeared for or on behalf of the defendant.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

  • act as a director of a company
  • take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
  • be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

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.

Contact Press Office

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

Press Office

The Insolvency Service


4 Abbey Orchard Street
London
SW1P 2HT

This service is for journalists only. For any other queries, please contact the Insolvency Enquiry line on 0300 678 0015.

For all media enquiries outside normal working hours, please contact the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Press Office on 020 7215 1000.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:



Speech: Green Great Britain: Climate Policy and Energy Transition

Thank you for the invitation to speak with you this morning on a subject that has been right at the centre of the UK-Norway relationship for many years.

Ten years ago, the British Parliament came together to pass the Climate Change Act, with strong cross-party support, binding the UK to ambitious reductions in carbon emissions by 2050. For those who followed the debate at the time, amid the warnings from scientists and the strong moral arguments for climate action, there were voices explaining the economic rationale for change, even touting industrial opportunity for the UK if it could lead on climate action.

Ten years later and after one of the hottest summers on record when we have all experienced first-hand the changing climate, the wisdom of those who called us to action a decade ago is sinking in. With this sobering realisation however, comes the exciting evidence that those who promised economic opportunity were every bit as visionary.

Since 1990, UK emissions are down by more than 40% and today there are almost 400,000 people working in low carbon businesses and their supply chains, from the innovators creating better, more efficient batteries to the factories putting them in less polluting cars.

Britain has been the most successful of the G7 nations in growing our economy while cutting emissions. Currently the UK uses three times less carbon to produce a £1 of GDP compared with 1990. This makes us a world leader in clean growth and demonstrates the real wealth creation opportunity that comes with building the new climate economy.

The UK could not have achieved its world-leading position on the low carbon economy without international partnerships. Norway has been at the forefront of countries that have worked with us on the energy transition. Norwegian companies were early movers in developing offshore windfarms in UK waters.

We are moving ahead rapidly with deployment of other zero carbon energy sources. Over the summer, the UK generated record levels of solar power. This success means we can confidently commit to a 2025 phase out date for coal generation, putting us ahead of most of the OECD nations and able to help other countries plan their own post coal transition. We want to lead the world to move beyond coal, which is why last year the UK together with Canada launched the Powering Past Coal Alliance. This partnership now numbers over 70 signatories with coal phase out dates, including global businesses, states and cities like Los Angeles, who signed up this summer. Among the industry partners is the Norwegian company Storebrand who have committed to restricting financing and investment in unabated coal power.

While the UK has made huge strides in decarbonising power generation and waste, there is still much to do in transport, buildings and agriculture. In the next decade, we will build on our clean growth success to create the businesses and technologies to decarbonise these sectors. Again, the partnership with Norway will be very important. Electric vehicles as part of climate-friendly future mobility is an area where we are keen to build collaboration.

The low carbon economy could grow by up to 11 per cent a year up to 2030 – four times faster than the rest of the economy. And as other countries follow our lead and embrace our clean growth model, British businesses could be exporting £170 billion worth of low carbon goods and services. The City of London already leads the world in green finance and working with experts through the Green Finance Initiative, we want to mobilise the trillions required to deliver the global transition.

The UK Clean Growth Strategy, launched last year, sets out how we are investing more than £2.5 billion in low carbon innovation as part of the largest increase in public spending on science, research and innovation in over three decades. This investment is helping us lead the world in new technologies like carbon capture, smart grids and hydrogen fuel cells. I think that Norway is well placed to partner with the UK on these cutting-edge technologies, just as Norwegian companies did a decade ago with offshore wind development in UK waters.

Although more than three quarters of the British public are concerned about the climate, the clean growth story which I have described is less well understood. That’s why two weeks ago, the British Government hosted Green Great Britain Week to showcase the opportunities and benefits of taking bold action to tackle climate change. Up and down the country businesses, academics, civil society groups and the Government join forces to tell the story of clean growth and how acting to tackle climate change is a shared opportunity, as well as a responsibility.
During Green Great Britain Week, we also highlighted international partnerships.

The British Embassies in Oslo and Stockholm collaborated on a Green Finance event with the City of London. I was pleased to announce the embassy’s new Beyond Plastic strategy to eliminate all avoidable single use plastic from our operations by 2020.

As the UK prepares to leave the European Union, we must remember that our ambition to protect our planet goes hand in hand with seizing new growth opportunities. Climate action continues to be a pragmatic economic strategy and one of the biggest industrial opportunities of our generation. The UK could have no better partner than Norway in this endeavour. Thank you for listening.



News story: Call for evidence launches on airport licensing laws

The government is asking the public for evidence and views on whether introducing alcohol licensing laws at airports in England and Wales could help tackle the problem of drunk and disruptive passengers.

Currently, sales of alcohol by pubs, bars, restaurants, lounges and shops located beyond the security gates at international airports in England and Wales are not regulated by licensing laws. This means that rules intended to stop sales to drunk individuals or prevent irresponsible promotions do not apply to them.

Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability Victoria Atkins said:

Air travel often marks the start of an exciting holiday abroad and airports are places to eat, drink and shop as we wait to board our flights.

Most UK air passengers behave responsibly when flying, but any disruptive or drunk behaviour is entirely unacceptable.

This government is committed to ensuring that the travelling environment for airline passengers remains safe and enjoyable.

This is an excellent opportunity for all interested parties to engage directly with us, inform our understanding of the problem and identify suitable solutions.

The call for evidence comes after the House of Lords Select Committee recommended that following a rise in reports of drunk and disorderly airline passengers, airside outlets that sell and supply alcohol to air travellers should comply with the same licensing rules as elsewhere.

Feedback from interested parties will help the government establish the scale of the problem and assess the advantages and disadvantages of applying the Licensing Act 2003 to airside premises.

The 3 month call for evidence is open to all who wish to contribute.

A survey by Unite of over 4,000 cabin crew working for British-based airlines in August 2017 found that 87% of respondents reported witnessing drunken passenger behaviour at UK airports or on flights from UK airports.

While the Licensing Act 2003 does not regulate the sale and supply of alcohol on planes, travellers already face up to 2 years in prison or an unlimited fine for drunkenness on an aircraft. The government is also taking a wider look at how the issue of disruptive passenger behaviour could be managed through the development of the new UK Aviation Strategy.



Press release: Ocado and B&M now bound by rules on treating suppliers fairly

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.