• The UK Government hosted the event, in collaboration with the governments of Australia, Canada, France and the US
• In a speech at Amiens Cathedral, The Duke of Cambridge pays tribute to those who served in the battle one hundred years ago

More than 3,000 people gathered in France today to mark the centenary of the Battle of Amiens and the start of the Hundred Days Offensive, the final period of the First World War.

His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge joined Prime Minister Theresa May at the ceremony in Amiens Cathedral to remember those who fought in the battle.

Two thousand guests watched the service from inside the Cathedral, including hundreds of descendants of those who fought. A further 1,200 members of the public watched from the Cathedral square.

In a speech, HRH The Duke of Cambridge paid tribute to those who served in the battle one hundred years ago and the cooperation between the Allied nations.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

The Battle of Amiens was the turning point which hastened the final, decisive chapter of the First World War.

A hundred years on, today’s ceremony is a fitting moment to remember those who sacrificed their lives, and reflect on our shared past, present and future.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright said:

The Battle of Amiens marked the beginning of the end of the First World War. It was a crucial step in securing the Allies’ victory in November 2018.

Today, we have come together as friends to remember those who fought and to reflect on the sacrifices they made.

On 8 August 1918, the Allied armies, made up of British, Australian, Canadian, French and American forces, advanced over seven miles on the first day of the Battle of Amiens, one of the greatest advances of the war.

The battle demonstrated how the Allies had learned lessons from previous campaigns and combined the use of infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft to devastating effect.

Amiens also marked the start of the Hundred Days Offensive that won the war sooner than had previously been thought possible. The opening day of the battle was described by the German General Erich Ludendorff as the black day of the German Army.

After today’s ceremony, in a moment that reaffirmed the bonds of friendship and peace between nations, His Royal Highness, the Prime Minister, along with representatives from France, Germany, Australia, Canada, the US and Ireland laid flowers in the Chapel of the Allies in the Cathedral. Flags that were presented to the Bishop of Amiens by the Allied nations after the Battle have remained in the chapel ever since.

His Royal Highness and the Prime Minister also met a number of descendants of those who fought at Amiens.

Notes to Editors:

For further information please contact Faye Jackson in the DCMS Press Office on faye.jackson@culture.gov.uk or + 44 (0)7788 345 722

Read and download the Amiens Official Commemorative Programme

Details of the representatives who attended from the other nations who laid posies:

• Madame Florence Parly, Minister for the Armed Forces
• His Excellency, Mr Joachim Gauck, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany
• The Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, Canada
• The Honourable Darren Chester MP, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Defence Personnel and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of Anzac, Australia
• Her Excellency Ms Patricia O’Brien, Ambassador of Ireland to France
• Kristina Kvien, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Paris

Shaun Harkin, 48 from Coventry, was the sole director of Easyleads Limited, a company that generated sales leads for other businesses through telephone marketing calls advertising their clients’ services and products.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) first received complaints about automated calls from numbers used by Easyleads between October 2015 and July 2016.

Having previously advised Shaun Harkin in connection with a former company he ran about the regulations preventing unsolicited marketing calls to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), the ICO warned him in January 2017 of their investigation into the new complaints.

Despite this warning, Shaun Harkin allowed Easyleads to start a brand new advertising campaign using automated calls and this resulted in the ICO receiving further complaints about Easyleads sales practices between January and June 2017.

By September 2017, the ICO notified Shaun Harkin they were issuing a £260,000 fine against Easyleads for making unsolicited marketing calls to people without their specific consent and failing to include a company name and contact details in the recorded message.

However, Easyleads failed to pay the debt and that led the ICO in February 2018 to issue a petition to the court to wind up the company.

Following the court ordering the shut down of Easyleads in March 2018, further investigations by the Insolvency Service found that the company had made around 16 million automated marketing calls to members of the public.

And more than 550 complaints were made to the ICO about Easyleads. Many were from people who said they received multiple calls, while others complained about being called in the early hours of the morning and in particular, there was a spike of calls over the May 2017 bank holiday weekend.

In June 2018, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Shaun Harkin in which he did not dispute that between October 2015 and June 2017 he failed to ensure that Easyleads Limited complied with its statutory obligations to prevent calls being made to people registered with the TPS.

Effective from 13 July 2018, Shaun Harkin is now banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company for six years.

Andy Curry, who headed up the investigation team at the ICO, said:

Easyleads plagued people with calls and we brought them to account by fining them £260,000. When they failed to pay, we refused to give up.

Now Shaun Harkin has been put out of action for six years. We still have work to do but this ban sends a message to others that they will not get away with making nuisance calls.

David Brooks, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Telephone marketing is a legitimate business endeavor but there are strict rules in place to protect those who do not want to be disturbed by nuisance sales calls.

This is a serious case where Shaun Harkin knowingly allowed the company to make unsolicited calls contrary to regulations and caused a great deal of distress for many people. The six-year ban reflects the seriousness of these actions and together with the ICO, we want to ensure this serves as a warning to others that we will seek redress should your conduct fall below accepted commercial standards.

Shaun Harkin is of Coventry and his date of birth is 6 May 1970

Company Easyleads Limited (Company Reg no. 09811848)

On 22 June 2018, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Shaun Harkin, after he did not dispute that between 22 October 2015 and 30 June 2017 he failed to ensure that Easyleads Limited complied with its statutory obligations under The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 to ensure that unsolicited marketing calls were not made to members of the public registered with the Telephone Preference Service who had not consented to such calls.

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.

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

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