Elcourt Ltd, WSR Hawker Ltd and Devo Group Ltd were wound up in the public interest on 9 June 2020 in the High Court before Judge Prentis. The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator of the companies.

In considering the petitions, the court heard that all three companies promoted and sold investments into sustainable energy processing schemes.

Elcourt traded as AD Baxton and claimed it provided brokering services, offering people the opportunity to acquire bonds in the two connected renewable energy companies, WSR Hawker Ltd and Devo Group Ltd.

However, the company was found to never had any presence at its registered address and in April 2019, the financial regulators issued a warning against Elcourt for providing unauthorised financial services and products.

Devo Group said it collected used cooking oil from various food and catering vendors within the UK and Europe to convert into biodiesel, while WSR Hawker described itself as a developer of wind power generation sites. However neither company had any official presence at their registered addresses.

Following petitions submitted by the Insolvency Service on behalf of the Secretary of State the court found that the entirety of the companies’ operations was a sham.

The court also heard that none of the bogus sustainable energy companies cooperated with the investigation and from the limited amount of data available, investigators uncovered that at least six investors made investments of £525,000.

During proceedings, Judge Prentis commented that it was no surprise that the three companies were not represented in court and that there was overwhelming evidence a fraud had been perpetrated.

Irshard Mohammed, Senior Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said

All three companies fraudulently tricked people into investing in so-called safe and environmentally-friendly businesses. However, any trading presented by these companies appears to have been entirely fictitious and from the £525,000 worth of investments we know about, no returns have been received.

The court thankfully recognised this misconduct and removed the companies from the corporate arena.

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

About the companies

Elcourt Ltd (Company number: 10586993) was incorporated on 02 July 2013. The current registered office is located at 3rd Floor, 42 – 44 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4AH. The company has never been authorised to use that address as its registered office address.

The current appointed director of the company is Hussain Servin. The authorised share capital of the company is shown as 1 ordinary shares of £1, with that share being allotted to Hussain Servin.

WSR Hawker Ltd (Company number: 09599892) was incorporated on 20 May 2015. The current registered office is located at 28 Throgmorton Street, London EC2N 2AQ. Again, that company has never been authorised to use that address as its registered office address.

The current appointed director of the company is Giovani Roberto. The authorised share capital of the Company is shown as 1,000 ordinary shares of £1, with those shares being allotted to Giovani Roberto.

Devo Group Ltd (Company number: 10024905) was incorporated on 24 February 2016. The current registered office is located at 20-28 The Crescent, Birmingham Business Park, Birmingham B37 7YE. As per the other companies Devo Group Ltd has never been authorised to use that address as its registered office address.

The current appointed director of the company is Arthur Lambard. The authorised share capital of the Company is shown as 1 ordinary shares of £1, with that share being allotted to Arthur Lambard.

Petition process

The petitions were presented by The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”) on 08 April 2020 for WSR Hawker Ltd and 01 May 2020 for Elcourt Ltd and Devo Group Ltd in the High Court of Justice, Business and Property Courts in England and Wales (CR-2020-002128 Devo Group Limited, CR-2020-002129 Elcourt Limited, CR-2020-002131 WSR Hawker Limited), under the provisions of section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 following confidential enquiries by Company Investigations under section 447 of the Companies Act 1985, as amended.

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 BEIS. Further information about live company investigations is available here.

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

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Green number plates are set to be rolled out from autumn, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed today (16 June 2020), under plans to drive a green economic recovery.

As part of the government’s plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, drivers will be encouraged to make the switch to electric vehicles through the introduction of green number plates. The plates will make it easier for cars to be identified as zero emission vehicles, helping local authorities design and put in place new policies to incentivise people to own and drive them.

For example, drivers could benefit from local initiatives such as cheaper parking and cost-free entry into zero-emission zones where those with a green number plate will be recognised as eligible.

The plates will be identifiable by a green flash on the left-hand side and will be available for zero emission vehicles only.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

A green recovery is key to helping us achieve our net zero carbon commitments while also promoting economic growth.

Green number plates could unlock a number of incentives for drivers and increase awareness of cleaner vehicles on our roads, showing people that a greener transport future is within our grasp.

We’re supporting small businesses to develop the transport tech of the future through a multi-million pound investment, ensuring that UK businesses remain at the forefront of low carbon innovation and research.’’

This follows the conclusion of a consultation, inviting comments from the public, local authorities and industry stakeholders from a range of sectors including motoring and consumer groups and vehicle manufacturers on how best to introduce green number plates.

To further accelerate the government’s plans to drive a green recovery, £12 million funding for ground-breaking research into the zero-emission market has also been announced to develop greener vehicles and help improve vehicle charging technology.

The funding, made available through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and delivered through Innovate UK, will see £10 million for a new Zero Emission Vehicle Innovation Competition. This will invite applicants to bid for project funding to support advancements in both battery electric and hydrogen vehicles, as well as charging infrastructure. 

OLEV is also providing £2 million to UK small and medium businesses to support their research into zero-emission vehicles in areas such as battery technology, which could be used by major vehicle manufacturers in future electric vehicle production.

The funding will help these businesses to drive local economic growth through research and development projects in areas including charging infrastructure and zero emission vehicles, which could in turn create over 6,000 skilled jobs.

Clinical researchers will begin human trials of a new coronavirus vaccine developed by researchers at Imperial College London.

Beginning this week, the study will be the first time the vaccine has been trialled in humans and will test whether it is well-tolerated and produces an effective immune response against COVID-19.

This latest milestone follows £41 million in government funding towards the development of Imperial College London’s vaccine. A further £5 million of philanthropic gifts, including from hundreds of members of the public, has accelerated the work. The trials will be the first test of a new self-amplifying RNA technology, which has the potential to revolutionise vaccine development and enable scientists to respond more quickly to emerging diseases.

The vaccine has undergone rigorous pre-clinical safety tests and has been shown to be safe and produced encouraging signs of an effective immune response in animal studies. Over the coming weeks, 300 healthy participants will receive two doses of the vaccine.

Many traditional vaccines are based on a weakened or modified form of virus, or parts of it, but the Imperial vaccine is based on a new approach. It uses synthetic strands of genetic code (called RNA), based on the virus’s genetic material.

If the vaccine shows a promising immune response, then larger Phase III trials would be planned to begin later in the year with around 6000 healthy volunteers to test its effectiveness.

Ultimately, the researchers hope that if clinical trials are successful, the vaccine could provide protection against COVID-19 both in the UK and around the world.

Professor Robin Shattock, from the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial and who is leading the work, said:

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed thousands of lives and had a huge impact on daily life. In the long-term, a viable vaccine could be vital for protecting the most vulnerable, enabling restrictions to be eased and helping people to get back to normal life.

Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, said:

I am incredibly proud the vaccine being developed by Imperial College London is one of the world’s front-runners. We are fully backing its research with over £40 million government funding, as part of our wider vaccines development programme.

The fast progress of Imperial’s vaccine is testament to the ingenuity and tenacity of Britain’s researchers. If these trials are successful a vaccine will not only help us tackle coronavirus but also emerging diseases now and into the future.

Kate Bingham, Vaccine Taskforce Chair, said:

I am delighted that Imperial College have so quickly advanced to the clinical trial stage. Their self-amplifying technology has the potential to be a real game-changer, not only for a COVID-19 vaccine but for the development of future vaccines. It’s a great example of the world-leading life sciences sector in this country.

By backing Imperial College London and their alternative vaccine platform, we have enhanced the UK’s vaccine portfolio, increasing our chances of identifying a successful vaccine.

Notes to editors

Key points:

• this is the first time the vaccine will be tested in humans
• the vaccine is based on synthetic strands of RNA, rather than a part of the virus
• the final vaccine consists of RNA strands packaged inside tiny fat droplets
• when injected, it instructs muscle cells to produce virus proteins. It does not create copies of the virus and does not cause changes to the cell’s own DNA
• the vaccine will be trialled in 300 healthy volunteers aged between 18 to 70
• participants will receive 2 doses of the vaccine (1 dose at 2 visits)
• participants will not be intentionally exposed to live SARS CoV-2 virus at any point of the trial
• Imperial has founded a social enterprise VacEquity Global Health (VGH) to distribute the vaccine. For the UK and low-income countries abroad, Imperial and VGH will waive royalties and charge only modest cost-plus prices to sustain the enterprise’s work, accelerate global distribution and support new research