Three directors of Handmade Limited, a film company have been disqualified for a combined 22 and a half years.

Patrick Anthony Meehan has been disqualified from acting as a director for 13 years, David Bernard Ravden has been disqualified from acting as a director for five and a half years, and Peter William Parkinson has been disqualified from acting as a director for four years, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Messrs Meehan, Ravden and Parkinson were directors of Handmade Limited which entered administration on 11 July 2012 and liquidation on 24 April 2013. Handmade Limited (Handmade – formerly Handmade Plc, encompassing Handmade Films International and Handmade Film Productions) was an international rights and film production company.

Mr Meehan was the principle director and shareholder and, with Mr Ravden and Mr Parkinson, formed an inner circle that controlled information and the affairs of Handmade. A court found Mr Meehan instigated, while Mr Ravden and Mr Parkinson accepted that they failed to take sufficient steps to stop, the following:

• Handmade obtaining $5m to fund a film project that had already been cancelled and using some of the moneys to pay off relatives of one of the directors
• Handmade disclosing all its debts in an Alternative Investment Market (AIM) prospectus to raise $17 million, and then expended the moneys raised thereafter on matters undisclosed to advisers, shareholder or potential investors

Abandoned film project funding

In 2008, Mr Meehan suggested to an investor company that they make an investment in a Handmade film production. The investor company subsequently invested $5 million into a special purpose vehicle (SPV) through which investments for the film production were channeled. The funds were placed in an account in the name of Handmade plc and the SPV.

The proposed star of the film, had been injured in car accident and, on 4 September 2008, production was abandoned.

On 8 September 2008 the investment company transferred $5 million into the named Handmade/SPV account. They were not informed that the production had already been abandoned.

Subsequently the funds held in the Handmade/SPV account were transferred to Handmade and used for other purposes without the investment company’s knowledge or permission. No monetary repayment was made by Handmade to the investment company, which lost all of its $5 million.

Moneys raised through AIM

In October 2008 Handmade approached a nominated adviser and broker (NOMAD) and asked it to assist in relation to a fundraising via the AIM sub-market of the London Stock Exchange to fund the acquisitions of a New York based animation company, and enter into a joint venture with an America based television brand.

A major accountancy firm was retained by the NOMAD and Handmade to carry out an independent review of financial projections prepared by Handmade to prepare a Working Capital Report (WCR).

Copies of investor presentations and a legally required circular to shareholders and placing announcement described the purposes for which Handmade intended to use the moneys raised. The AIM funding was completed on 17 November 2009, resulting in $17 million being available to Handmade.

In December 2009, a new Chief Executive and Operating Officer (CEOO) of Handmade took office and when the CEOO saw Handmade’s financial information, it was clear that significant payments had been made that had not formed part of the Placing Announcement.

The concerns raised by the new CEOO resulted in Handmade’s shares being suspended and insolvency advice was taken in January 2010.

In February 2010 the accountants who prepared the WCR issued a report which set out multiple matters that had not been reflected in the projections provided to them by Handmade either during the preparation of the WCR or at any time prior to the AIM placing.

Commenting on the disqualifications, Joanne Covell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Directors have a duty to ensure that the procedures they construct and oversee comply with the law. Directors who do not comply with this basic obligation can expect to be investigated by the Insolvency Service and enforcement action taken to remove them from the market place.

The activity uncovered pertains to personal and corporate probity in permitting the obtaining of significant funds ($22 million) on the basis of a false prospectus (the AIM placing) and false statements (film production) and then using those moneys in ways other than described. The facts were known to the three disqualified directors and they chose to make mis-statements and/or omit relevant facts when it suited them.

Taking action against the these three directors is a warning to all directors to seriously consider, and ensure they perform, their duties and obligations and not hide behind the corporate veil or claim ignorance of facts. Taking undue risks with the money of others has consequences.

Notes to editors

Handmade Ltd (CRO 03270629) was incorporated on 23 October 1996. Its registered office prior to insolvency was Old School House Leckhampton Road Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL53 0AX and it traded as an international rights and film production company from June 2006.

Handmade Limited went into administration on 11 July 2012 and Kevin Ashley Goldfarb of Griffins Tavistock House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9LG and Mark Reynolds of Valentine & Co 3rd Floor, Shakespeare Road, London, N3 1XE were appointed Joint Administrators. On 24 April 2013 Handmade went into liquidation and Mr Goldfarb and Mr Reynolds were appointed Joint Liquidators.

The Secretary of State accepted an undertaking from Peter William Parkinson on 2 December 2014. The disqualification commenced on 23 February 2014. Mr Parkinson’s last known address was 2 Thames Walk Apartments, 2 Hester Road, London, SW11 8BG.

A Disqualification Order was made against Patrick Anthony Meehan, in his absence, on 20 May 2015. The disqualification commenced on 11 June 2015 Mr Meehan’s last known addresses were Batchelor’s Farm, Troy Lane, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 6QN.

The Secretary of State accepted an undertaking from David Bernard Ravden on 19 January 2017. The disqualification commences on 9 February 2017. Mr Ravden’s last publicly known address is 57 Queens Grove, London, NW8 6EN.

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.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: Joanne Covell, Outsourced Investigations, Investigations and Enforcement Services, The Insolvency Service, 3rd Floor, Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Tel: 0207 596 6117. Email: Cheryl.Lambert@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

14 February 2017

The Green Party has responded to news this morning that the gig-economy is thought to cost the Government £4billion in lost taxes. [1]

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“The news that insecure work is hurting public finances reinforces what we already knew – insecure work is bad for everyone.

“The gig-economy offers flexibility but in reality leaves workers without basic rights and vulnerable to exploitation. Add to this the lost tax revenue which could be supporting greater social security or the NHS, and it’s clear that the Government has been left standing by a rapidly changing world. It needs to get a grip on the gig-economy.”

The news comes just days after pressure from the Green Party saw the Government finally publish (on February 10) a report into employment status law which was completed more than a year ago. [2]

Bartley added:

“The extent of the Government’s apathy and inertia was revealed last week when it finally published the Coalition’s shelved review into employment status law, which warned back in 2015 that gig-economy workers were at risk.

“While Tory ministers shamefully sat on the findings of the report workers everywhere have been living with increasing insecurity. People need jobs they can build a life on, and they need them now.”

Notes:

1. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/14/insecure-work-bad-uk-economy-tuc-zero-hours-contracts
2. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2017/02/10/green-pressure-sees-government-finally-publish-shelved-employment-status-law-review/

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Speaking today at the Nucleus (Nuclear and Caithness Archive) in Wick, NDA chairman Stephen Henwood, said:

Today we see a new chapter in the important role Caithness has played in the UK’s nuclear history. For many decades Dounreay was at the forefront of the development of the British, and world, nuclear industry and now Nucleus will see this knowledge protected for future generations.

NDA Chief Executive John Clarke added:

Across the UK, at over 17 sites, we have accumulated large volumes of important and valuable records, some dating back to the 1940s. Now we have Nucleus, we have ensured that this information is accessible, secure, and managed efficiently for the taxpayer.

At its peak, Dounreay employed more than 3,000 staff and brought a wide range of contracts for local businesses. By placing Nucleus in Wick, the NDA is honouring our responsibility to help offset the economic impact of closing down sites that were once major regional employers.

Located near one the UK’s earliest nuclear research sites, Dounreay in Scotland, the Nucleus archive will have a dual role: as well as housing nuclear records, the facility will contain a collection of local Scottish records that has outgrown its existing home.

An exercise lasting at least five years is now under way to collect many thousands of important plans, photographs, drawings and other records from locations across the UK for transfer to Nucleus.

The site’s records – including plans, drawings, photographs and other information – will be the first nuclear collection transferred to Nucleus from the 17 NDA sites. The Caithness collection, with records dating back to the 16th century, are already in place.

Up to 26 km of shelving has been installed in a series of secure pods to take the material and ensure it is preserved. Nucleus will employ a staff of approximately 20 including archivists, preservation experts and support staff.

An operation has already been under way for a number of years to retrieve, collate and organise the huge quantities of records that are currently stored at or near individual sites.
It is hoped that, during 2017, Nucleus will be granted Place of Deposit status by The National Archive at Kew.

Once achieved, it will become one of the largest accredited repositories outside London.

An official opening ceremony will take place later in the year.

Archive material will be catalogued, indexed and stored in a carefully controlled environment, with humidity and temperature kept stable to minimise the potential for deterioration.

Old decaying documents will be transferred to archive-quality paper by on-site preservation specialists, and digitised for improved accessibility.

It is anticipated that interest in the nuclear material will be overwhelmingly from academics, regulators, journalists, industry representatives and all other researchers. The information will be provided digitally, wherever possible, avoiding risks of damage to the original material.

The triangular single-storey building has a large public area, including a reading room and community space for exhibitions, study or training.

The archive will also fulfil an important role for the future geological disposal facility (GDF) that is being developed for the UK, acting as a central repository for detailed waste records that must be safeguarded for many generations.

Discussions are also under way with the wider nuclear industry, including the Ministry of Defence, new build developers and operators of the UK’s current nuclear power stations, to potentially consolidate their records at Nucleus.

Nucleus Archive – video showing construction progress

Case study: NDA archive: Nucleus (the Nuclear and Caithness Archives)

World Future sold voluntary emission reduction carbon credits (VERs) at highly inflated prices to members of the public as an investment. The credits had no investment potential.

In January Edward George Lee became the last of the four to agree to a disqualification with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Mr Lee, 71, of Woodford Green, Essex accepted a four year, six month disqualification which commenced on 6 February 2017.

In 2015 and 2016 his fellow directors, James Laurence Ward, 31, of London E18; Hollie Emily Chapman, 31, of Loughton, Essex and Julie Margaret Sellers, 55, of Croydon, had earlier accepted disqualifications of between 12 and 14 years.

The disqualifications follow an investigation by the Official Receiver, whose involvement commenced with the winding up of the company in the public interest. The winding up order was initiated following a Company Investigations probe into the affairs of the company.

The Official Receiver’s investigation uncovered that between June 2011 and March 2012 World Future sold VERs to members of the public as an investment and netted at least £2,484,500.

VERs are fundamentally different from the licences to pollute (such as CERs) that can be readily traded in the compliance carbon market established under the Kyoto protocol. VERs are intended to be retired by businesses or individuals to offset their carbon footprints. Unlike with CERs, there is no readily accessible market where customers can sell on their VERs in the hope of being able to make a profit.

Ward acted as a director of World Future throughout its trading life without being formally appointed and caused it to trade with a lack of commercial probity by selling VERs as investments that had no potential to show a return to investors. He was only formally appointed as a director after the trading had ceased.

Chapman, Sellers and Lee were appointed at various times to be directors, but took no part in the day to day trading of World Future. Their inaction facilitated Ward and another individual to control World Future and cause it to trade with a lack of commercial probity while concealing their involvement. The other individual is already subject to a 14 year disqualification for action as a director in another company.

Commenting on this case Anthony Hannon, Official Receiver in the Public Interest Unit, said:

This company held itself out as having extensive expertise in the carbon credit market and made bold claims about the potential returns available when investing in carbon credits.

The directors and salespeople had no such trading experience and were only able to make sales on the basis of systematic misrepresentations about the VERs they sold. The truth is that the VERs were impossible to resell, making them worthless as investments. The company was run entirely for the benefit of those running it, at substantial cost to the investors who had been misled.

The lengthy periods of disqualification in this case show that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated by the Insolvency Service.

Notes to Editors

World Future Ltd (CRN: 07662439) was incorporated on 8 June 2011. The trading address shown on its literature was Level 37, 1 Canada Square, Canary wharf, London E14 5AA, but this was an accommodation address where the company had no physical presence. The company’s actual trading address was at Docklands Business Centre, 10 – 16 Tiller Road, London E14 8PX.

The petition to wind up the company was presented in the public interest by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills following an investigation conducted by Company Investigations (Live), another specialist unit within the Insolvency Service which uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 (as amended) to conduct confidential enquiries into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State.

The winding up order against World Future Ltd was made on 6 March 2013.

The company had previously entered creditors voluntary liquidation on 7 June 2012.

On 14 May 2015 the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from James Laurence Ward for a period of 14 years. The period of disqualification commenced on 4 June 2015.

On 13 November 2015 the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Julie Margaret Sellers for a period of 12 years. The period of disqualification commenced on 4 December 2015.

On 8 March 2016 the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Hollie Emily Chapman for a period of 12 years. The period of disqualification commenced on 29 March 2016.

On 16 January 2017 the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Edward George Lee for a period of 4 years and 6 months. The period of disqualification will commence on 6 February 2017.

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, 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.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit (South), The Insolvency Service, 2nd Floor, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Tel: 020 7637 6578 Email: piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on: