GPay Ltd was wound up in the public interest on 23 June 2020 in the High Court before Deputy Judge Baister. The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator of the company.

In considering the petition, the court heard that GPay facilitated an online cryptocurrency trading platform supported by experienced traders and innovative tools that enabled people with no experience to conduct trades.

The company, which traded as XtraderFX and formerly as Cryptopoint, targeted people in the UK and abroad, advertising its services online and via social media channels.

Customers were encouraged to use GPay’s online trading platform through advertisements that falsely claimed the service was supported or endorsed by entrepreneurs that starred in a prime-time TV show and a high-profile money saving website.

Following complaints, however, the Insolvency Service conducted confidential enquiries into GPay’s activities before investigators uncovered that at least 108 clients claimed they had lost in total just under £1.5 million while using the company’s online trading platform.

In some cases, clients lost money despite paying insurance which was meant to retrospectively cover their losses.

If clients attempted to remove funds from their trading accounts, they were advised that no withdrawals could be made until they submitted copies of their photo ID, a utility bill and debit or credit card. This level of information, however, was not asked by GPay when they accepted clients’ deposits.

Clients also reported that withdrawals would be declined if they hadn’t actively traded the deposited funds.

GPay did not defend the public interest petition and the in winding-up the company, the court concluded that the company demonstrated a lack of commercial probity, failed to file statutory accounts and had no legitimate presence at its registered office address, which GPay appeared to have abandoned.

David Hill, a Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

GPay persuaded customers to part with substantial sums of money to invest in cryptocurrency trading. This was nothing but a scam as GPay tricked their clients to use their online platform under false pretences and no customer has benefited as their investments have been lost.

We welcome the court’s decision to wind-up GPay as it will protect anyone else becoming a victim. This scam should also serve as a warning to anyone who conducts trading online that they should carry-out appropriate checks before they invest any money that the company is registered and regulated by the appropriate authorities.

All enquiries concerning the affairs of the companies should be made to:

• The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 16th Floor, 1 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ
• Telephone: 020 7637 1110
• Email: piu.or@insolvency.gov.uk

GPay Ltd, trading as XtraderFX, and formerly trading as Cryptopoint, was wound up by the High Court, on 23 June 2020, on a petition presented, in the public interest, by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

GPay Ltd was incorporated on 30 August 2017, Company Registration number 10938332. The registered office of the company is 18 Stoke Road Slough, Stoke Road, Slough, England, SL2 5AG.

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). Information about how to complain about a live company.

Information about the work of the Insolvency Service.

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Green-minded companies that applied to the government’s tariff guarantee scheme before June 29 will have an extra 14 months to get their low-carbon heat generators up and running.

The move will bring vital clarity to companies in danger of missing the start-dates for their projects, protect investment in the renewable heat industry, and help give certainty to thousands of people working in specialised UK supply chains.

Projects had a January 2021 deadline to be up and running to be eligible for the second allocation of tariff guarantees. However, with businesses across the UK battling the impact of COVID-19, the government has stepped in to support projects in danger of missing the cut-off by extending that deadline to March 2022, following a response to the RHI consultation.

Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said:

It is right that we offer certainty and breathing space to companies embracing renewable heat technology across the country.

Renewable heat will play a key role in the UK’s economic recovery as we redouble efforts to tackle carbon emissions. With government support, these vital projects are on course to stop 108 million tonnes of CO2 from polluting the atmosphere, while also helping to create new green collar jobs.

The RHI was the first scheme of its kind in the world, and the non-domestic RHI offers businesses a set tariff for 20 years for generating large-scale renewable heat for the energy grid from a range of renewable sources such as biomass boilers or heat pumps.

In addition to extending the second allocation of tariff guarantees, the government has also confirmed that a third allocation will open for new applications in July, encouraging more investment into the sector.

Furthermore, a 12-month extension to the domestic RHI, which will run until 31 March 2022, has also been announced in today’s response. The extension to the domestic scheme will prevent 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 from polluting the atmosphere over the lifetime of these smaller-scale projects, through converting 18,000 households onto low-carbon heating.

Successor schemes to the RHI include the Clean Heat Grant Scheme, Green Gas Support Scheme and Green Heat Networks Fund, which will target investment in the most effective renewable heat technologies to drive further decarbonisation of heat and greening of the gas grid. Industry has been invited to help shape these schemes through a consultation, which is open until 7 July.

1. Companies that applied to the second allocation of flexible tariff guarantees will have until March 2022 to commission projects.
2. A third allocation of flexible tariff guarantees will open for applications in July 2020 and run concurrently to the second allocation of flexible tariff guarantees.
3. The government is currently consulting on successor schemes to the RHI.

Officers have been out on the River Lathkill near Bakewell, rescuing brown trout. All of the fish caught were moved downstream to sections with more water.

It is an area prone to drying up when there has been little rain. Fish are moved downstream and once water levels return to normal, the fish can repopulate the area. With May being the driest since records began, it is no surprise that Environment Agency specialists have needed to act.

Matt Buck, fisheries technical specialist with the Environment Agency, said:

In recent years we’ve had to rescue fish on this river as they’ve been left stranded when the river dries up after a prolonged period of dry weather. We will continue to monitor the river as sections of it are likely to continue to dry up and will carry out further fish rescues if needed.

Figures show that while February saw record breaking rainfall, in May it was only 11 per cent of the average for the month. Though rain this month has helped alleviate the situation, consumers are being asked to use water wisely, for example, by not using sprinklers or hoses to water gardens, and to take showers rather than baths. More tips on how to save water in your home can be found on websites of water companies.

The work was carried out adhering to current guidelines on social distancing.

Those enjoying our environment, such as anglers and boaters are being encouraged to report environmental incidents. Warm weather can often lead to algal blooms or water that is too warm which makes it difficult for fish to breathe. Fish are often seen gasping for air; if anyone sees fish in distress, please contact the Environment Agency’s incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

Notes to editors

The role of the Environment Agency during a dry spell is to monitor and protect the environment, whilst balancing the needs of people, industry and agriculture.

During dry spells it’s not unusual for some rivers and lakes in fast responding catchments to deplete quickly, during even short periods of low rainfall, and they tend to recover quickly when the rain returns.

We’re closely monitoring all rivers across the area, as is usual in warm dry weather, there are already abstraction restrictions in place. Further restrictions will be issued when necessary. These are issued when the river is too low to sustain the number of abstractions and protect the environment.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will today (Tuesday 30th June) announce a “New Deal” which puts jobs and infrastructure at the centre of the government’s economic growth strategy.

In a speech in the West Midlands, the Prime Minister will underline his commitment to ‘build, build, build’ in order to upgrade Britain’s infrastructure and skills to fuel economic recovery across the UK.

The Prime Minister is expected to say:

It sounds positively Rooseveltian. It sounds like a New Deal. All I can say is that if so, then that is how it is meant to sound and to be, because that is what the times demand. A government that is powerful and determined and that puts its arms around people at a time of crisis….

…this is a government that is wholly committed not just to defeating coronavirus but to using this crisis finally to tackle this country’s great unresolved challenges of the last three decades.

To build the homes, to fix the NHS, to tackle the skills crisis, to mend the indefensible gap in opportunity and productivity and connectivity between the regions of the UK. To unite and level up.

To that end we will build build build. Build back better, build back greener, build back faster and to do that at the pace that this moment requires.

The Prime Minister will announce that we bring forward £5bn of capital investment projects, supporting jobs and the economic recovery, including:

• £1.5bn this year for hospital maintenance, eradicating mental health dormitories, enabling hospital building, and improving A&E capacity. This will improve patient care, make sure NHS hospitals can deliver world-leading services and reduce the risk of coronavirus infections.

• £100m this year for 29 projects in our road network to get Britain moving, from bridge repairs in Sandwell to boosting the quality of the A15 in the Humber region. Plus £10m for development work to unblock the Manchester rail bottleneck, which will begin this year.

• Over £1bn to fund the first 50 projects of a new, ten-year school rebuilding programme, starting from 2020-21. These projects will be confirmed in the Autumn, and construction on the first sites will begin from September 2021.

• £560m and £200m for repairs and upgrades to schools and FE colleges respectively this year.

• £142m for digital upgrades and maintenance to around 100 courts this year, £83m for maintenance of prisons and youth offender facilities, and £60m for temporary prison places, creating thousands of new jobs.

• £900m for a range of ‘shovel ready’ local growth projects in England over the course of this year and next, as well as £96m to accelerate investment in town centres and high streets through the Towns Fund this year. This will provide all 101 towns selected for town deals with £500k-£1m to spend on projects such as improvements to parks, high streets, and transport.

The Prime Minister will talk about an “infrastructure revolution”: building infrastructure, building jobs and building healthcare through a bold programme of national renewal, uniting and levelling up the UK.

He is expected to say:

Too many parts of this country have felt left behind, neglected, unloved, as though someone had taken a strategic decision that their fate did not matter as much as the metropolis.

And so I want you to know that this government not only has a vision to change this country for the better, we have a mission to unite and level up – the mission on which we were elected last year.

Spring Budget 2020 set out ambitious plan to invest in our future prosperity. Today’s announcement redoubles government’s efforts to get on with this now, in support of economic recovery and jobs right across the country.

To support the ambition to ‘build build build’, in the Autumn the government will also publish a National Infrastructure Strategy which will set a clear direction on core economic infrastructure, including energy networks, road and rail, flood defences and waste.

The Government also intends to bring forward funding to accelerate infrastructure projects in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland – we will work with the devolved administrations to identify where we can get spades in the ground, build our communities, and create jobs faster for citizens across the United Kingdom. We will carry out a review to look at how best to improve road, rail, air and sea links between our four nations to create a more connected kingdom.

To protect the UK’s natural infrastructure, the Prime Minister will recommit to reforest Britain by planting over 75,000 acres of trees every year by 2025. He is also set to pledge £40m to boost local conservation projects and create 3000 jobs, including new Conservation Rangers, and safeguard a further 2000 – training young people and others in the community to protect their local environments. This will go a long way to safeguard the UK’s natural carbon stores and wildlife habitats – our meadows, rivers, and local green spaces – which are central to capturing and removing CO2 from the atmosphere, protecting precious biodiversity, and connecting people with nature.

Recognising the crisis has driven job josses across the country, and many people are worried about their jobs and incomes, the Prime Minister will announce action to support jobs and skills in his speech. This government is committed to building an economy that works for working people across the country. While in the long-term the government must set a path to balance the books, the Prime Minister is clear that we will not do so at the expense of investing now in the productive potential of the economy, or at the expense of the resilience of the UK’s public services.

The Prime Minister will finish by saying:

If we deliver this plan together, then we will together build our way back to health.

We will not just bounce back, we will bounce forward – stronger and better and more united than ever before.

The Chancellor will provide an update on the economy next week.