Tag Archives: HM Government

The new look emergency areas have bright orange road surfaces to help improve visibility so they are more obvious to drivers on smart motorways. It is also hoped that it will encourage drivers to only use them in emergency situations.

The first of the new emergency areas went live on the M3 near Camberley last month. This change is part of an ongoing review into the design and spacing of emergency areas on smart motorways. A further 14 emergency areas will have the distinctive orange colour added along the M1 between junctions 19 (Catthorpe) to 16a (Northampton) from this month.

Highways England Chief Executive Jim O’Sullivan said:

We recognise the public concern about smart motorways and we also believe that changes such as these will help drivers have confidence when using them and be clear about where they can stop in an emergency.

That is why we are trialling these highly visible new style emergency areas. The bright orange colouring will make them as easy as possible to spot and should also discourage drivers from using them in non-emergency situations.

This is just one of the ways we are helping drivers to understand smart motorways and their benefits. I hope it helps drivers feel more confident about using a smart motorway.

Smart motorways use variable speed limits to manage traffic and tackle frustrating stop-start congestion, new technology to give drivers better information on road conditions ahead and – in smart motorway upgrades delivered since 2004 – convert the hard shoulder into an extra traffic lane. Evidence shows that smart motorways are successfully adding extra capacity, improving journey times and are just as safe as conventional motorways.

The redesigned emergency area supports Highways England’s drive to improve awareness of smart motorway driving, including what to do in an emergency and when to use an emergency area. It sits alongside a national TV, radio and social media campaign covering key themes such as not driving in lanes closed by Red X signs, how to stop in an emergency and the importance of carrying out appropriate vehicle checks, like checking fuel levels, before setting out on a journey to avoid unnecessary breakdowns.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

read more

Movette sold a service to manage the online ‘Google My Business’ listings of its customers. The company used the trading styles of ‘Online Content Management Services’ and ‘OCMS’ and continued the same or a very similar business to that previously carried on by Online Platform Management Consultants Ltd, which was wound up on 13 April 2015 on the grounds that it operated against the public interest.

The investigation found Movette Ltd had been the subject of a significant volume of complaints to regulatory bodies such as Action Fraud and Trading Standards during its two-and-a-half year trading history. These complaints, together with information gathered from customers during the investigation, established that the company:

• misled customers by stating or implying that it represented or was affiliated to Google when in reality there was no such relationship
• misled customers by stating or implying that they had an existing contractual relationship with the company when there was no such relationship
• falsely stated or implied that customers would lose their existing services from Google if payment was not made to the company
• failed to make clear to customers that their contracts would automatically renew after 12 months and ignored or rejected requests made by customers to cancel
• used debt collection methods which were offensive and threatening

Movette Ltd charged a fee of between £199 and £249 for a 12 month contract. The company’s financial records showed it received fees totalling £537,000.

Commenting on the case, Colin Cronin, Investigation Supervisor with the Insolvency Service, said:

Movette used deceptive methods to persuade customers to sign up for its service, including stating or implying that it represented or was connected to Google.

The company then made it difficult for customers to extract themselves from rolling contracts and used debt collection methods which were coercive and intimidatory.

These proceedings show that the Insolvency Service will take firm action against companies which operate in this manner.

I would urge any business which is contacted by cold-call and invited to sign up for a Google My Business listing to make full enquiries into the service being offered before entering into any agreement. Google My Business is, in fact, a free service which allows businesses to enter and update information with the intention of marketing themselves to users of the search engine.

Notes to Editors

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 as 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.

Online 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.

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

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.

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.

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

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

read more

Work at the Finham Brook site in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, starts this month and includes the creation of 6 new ponds as well as new woodlands featuring over 6,200 trees and shrubs. It’s expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The new habitats will support local wildlife species ranging from birds to great crested newts. They are part of an unprecedented conservation project, which will see a green corridor of connected wildlife habitats created alongside the railway, including up to 7 million new trees and shrubs, as well as wetland, ponds, heathland and meadow.

Finham Brook conservation project

Anthony Coumbe, High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd’s Head of Environment for this region said:

The new habitats at Finham Brook will be the first of many to come between London and the West Midlands. They will help us to care for the local environment and serve as a new home to wildlife affected by the future development of the railway.

At Finham Brook, we’re creating a bigger and better habitat than local species such as great crested newts currently have. We’ll relocate newts to the habitat next year, once it has become properly established, while other wildlife will start to use the area naturally over time.

Ultimately, we’re aiming to create a railway that works for nature as well as passengers, with a green corridor of connected habitats running through the spine of the country.

Various preparatory works for the first phase of HS2, from London to the West Midlands, are currently underway. These range from nature conservation activity to archaeology investigations. Main construction work is set to start in 2018/19 following detailed design work.

read more

Cambridge’s newest rail station is already helping to speed up journeys for commuters into and out of the city less than 2 months after opening.

Cambridge North station was officially opened by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling today (7 August 2017). On his visit to the city today he also met with key stakeholders on the innovative East West Rail (EWR) project.

The station is set to serve up to 3,000 commuters a day. It is helping to cut traffic congestion into the city centre and is making journeys to the Cambridge Science Park quicker and easier.

Mr Grayling said:

The opening of Cambridge North marks the start of our plans to transform journeys for passengers in Cambridgeshire and maximise growth for the wider region.

We are committed to making journeys across this region quicker and easier, as soon as possible. The new station is already contributing to that.

East West Rail is at the heart of that transformation and can be a critical part of our plans to make this region the UK’s own Silicon Valley, a world renowned centre for science and innovation.

Meliha Duymaz, Network Rail’s Route Managing Director for Anglia, said:

This station brings a welcome boost to the local economy as part of our railway upgrade plan.

It has improved the way people travel around the city with better connections to both Cambridge city centre and to London, and provides vital rail links to the science and business parks, to support jobs and create new opportunities.

EWR is planned to link Cambridge and Oxford directly by rail for the first time in 50 years and is one of the UK’s most strategically important rail projects. As well as helping to develop the region into the UK’s own Silicon Valley it could boost other initiatives including housing, science, technology and innovation.

The aim is also to provide a new direct rail link between East Anglia, the south midlands and the south-west, helping to grow the UK’s economy.

Upon completion, it will mean journeys between some of the country’s most economically vibrant towns and cities will be quicker and easier.

Mr Grayling was joined at the official opening of Cambridge North station by Network Rail’s Meliha Duymaz, Greater Anglia Managing Director Jamie Burles, and Nick Brown, Chief Operating Officer at GTR.

Upon successful completion, the new east-west line will have interchange stations with 5 main railway lines radiating out of London but will run under or over each, minimising risk of delay. The aim is to build a route that allows future upgrades to be incorporated with as little disruption as possible.

The Western section of the line between Oxford and Bedford is being progressively upgraded and is expected to completed by 2022, with Aylesbury to Milton Keynes expected to be completed in 2024 at the latest.

£10 million was allocated at the last Autumn Statement to identify a preferred route for the line to extend east of Bedford, via Sandy, to Cambridge. The original railway was closed in 1966.

An update on the next section of the planned route between Cambridge and Bedford will be published in the autumn and the preferred route confirmed by next summer.

Work also continues on a new Oxford-Cambridge expressway, with consultations on improving the A428 and delivering a major upgrade to the A14 later in 2017.

read more

Mr McGilvray has given an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy that he won’t act as a director of a company for seven years from 15 August .

An Insolvency Service investigation found McGilvray ( 53), had failed to preserve the company’s accounting records between January 2014 and August 2015 and failed to maintain accounting records for the period September 2015 and August 2016.

Keith McGilvray was the sole director of Frogfish Limited, on 9 June 2016, when, with liabilities of £94,808, the company was placed into compulsory liquidation following a winding up petition lodged by HM Revenue & Customs.

Following the liquidator’s appointment the investigation found between 1 January 2014 and August 2015, Mr McGilvray failed to preserve the accounting records of Frogfish Limited and between September 2015 and August 2016 he failed to maintain accounting records during which time he caused the company to trade on a cash basis. Consequently, in the absence of the accounting records it was not possible to:

• verify whether the receipts deposited into the bank account in the period 02 January 2014 and 11 September 2015 totalling £218,205 were a true reflection of the sale achieved in the period
• identify and verify the level of sales achieved in the period 12 September 2015 to August 2016 and what became of the monies achieved from the sales made
• verify whether the 83 cheque payments totalling £35,236 made in the period 07 January 2014 to 21 August 2015 were bona fide company transactions
• identify and verify payments made by the company between 28 August 2015 and August 2016; Identify and verify the level of wages paid by the company in the period 20 August 2016 to August 2016 and the resulting liability owed to HMRC in respect of RTI PAYE
• identify and verify the level of VAT owed by the company between February 2014 and August 2016

The inability to identify and verify the financial position of the company at liquidation was further exacerbated as a consequence of Mr McGilvray failing to comply with his statutory obligations in that he failed to ensure the company:

• prepared and filed annual accounts for the year to 31 December 2014 which ought to have been filed with the Registrar at Companies House by 30 September 2015
• prepared and filed VAT returns for 10 consecutive VAT quarters between February 2014 and May 2016 resulting in HMRC issuing VAT assessments and surcharges
• filed monthly RTI PAYE information to HMRC in respect of tax years 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 resulting in HMRC estimating the liability owed

Robert Clarke, Head of Company Investigation at the Insolvency Service said:

Directors who operate cash based businesses have to maintain sufficient records to explain where these monies have gone and following insolvency make sure that such records are delivered up for scrutiny by the relevant bodies.

By failing to do this the public can not be sure that all funds received by the company were used for legitimate purposes. The substantial period of this disqualification reflects the fact that when a company fails to keep adequate financial records it is simply not possible to determine whether there has been other, more serious, impropriety in relation to the management of its affairs.

This ban should serve as a reminder to any directors tempted to do the same: the Insolvency Service will vigorously investigate you and seek to remove you from the marketplace.

Notes to editors

Frogfish Limited (Company No. SC292943) went into compulsory liquidation on 9 June 2016, with a deficiency to creditors of £94,808. The company was incorporated to sell fish and chips from a takeaway and traded from 8 Provost Watt Drive, Kincorth, Aberdeen AB12 5BT.

Keith McGilvray is of Aberdeen and his date of birth is 26 January 1964.

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

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.

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

read more