Walsham Chalet Park was incorporated in 1966 and operated 8 holiday parks across several sites in England including Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Devon, Cornwall, East Sussex and Berkshire.

James Moir (23) and William Moir (27), both from Harlow, joined their father Simon Moir as directors of Walsham Chalet Park Limited in 2017.

The holiday parks company ran an investment scheme where people could invest in part or an entire holiday chalet and would receive returns based on the holiday rental income.

Investigations following Walsham Chalet Park’s insolvency in September 2019, however, found that 161 people had paid Walsham Chalet Park £14.2m to invest in chalets never built.

30 of those investors further paid the holiday park company £1.8m to invest in chalets at a site in Gloucestershire that Walsham Chalet Park did not own.

Investigators established that false accounts had also been sent to the company’s bank.

On 11 March 2021, the Secretary of State accepted disqualification undertakings from James and William Moir after they did not dispute they had breached their duties as directors of the company.

James and William Moir have been banned from acting as directors for 6 years each which means they cannot, directly or indirectly, become involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

The directors’ father, Simon Moir (58), previously received a 14 year ban in September 2020 for his role in the failed investment scheme.

Sue MacLeod, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Millions of pounds were taken from investors for holiday chalets from James and William Moir’s company, despite Walsham Chalet Park not owning one site and the chalets never being built.

As a result of this financial mismanagement, investors have lost substantial amounts of money and it is only right that these brothers are removed from being company directors for this significant period.

James Moir is from Harlow, Essex and his date of birth is July 1997.

William Moir is from Harlow, Essex and his date of birth is January 1994.

WALSHAM CHALET PARK LIMITED (Company number 00871417)

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 restrictions.

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

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

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Floods and storms are responsible for almost three-quarters of climate disasters.

In England, for every person who suffers flooding, around 16 others are affected by a loss of services such as transport and power.

Yet, all around the world, resilience to climate shocks does not get the same airtime as net zero, and resilience measures are too reliant on the public purse.

Just 3 percent of private finance mobilized under the Paris Agreement in 2018 went towards adaptation, with over 95 percent going towards mitigation.

The Global Commission on Adaptation’s report “State and Trends in Adaptation 2020” said:

“While there are gaps in the global data, the low figure indicates that the private sector – businesses and financial institutions alike – is failing to respond to the climate risks in their midst.”

In global finance we are robbing climate resilient Peter to pay net zero Paul.

The debt is inflated because we are not learning the mutual benefits of action on both agendas.

Today’s ClimateExpo theme is nature-based solutions, but this speech could have been delivered yesterday when the theme was on green recovery, tomorrow when it is mitigation solutions, Thursday when it is Adaptation & Resilience, or Friday when it is Finance and Regulation.

All of these themes bleed into each other.

On Friday, COP26 President Alok Sharma said:

“I ask Ministers from developed nations to imagine what it is like for communities on the frontline of climate change. Struggling to deal with a crisis they did next to nothing to create.

“To feel what it is like, to see developed countries invest trillions overnight to address the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst the $100 billion a year that we have promised to support developing countries with remains uncertain.”

Ahead of COP 26, we need to ensure that the race to net zero runs hand in hand with the race to resilience.

These efforts require trillions of investment in nature.

This speech is about the return on that investment.

–

Last year, more than 50 million people were affected by droughts, floods and storms.

In 2020, the rainy season across most of southern China was the longest in 20 years.

This meant that severe flooding and landslides were particularly intense, with more than 2.2 million people evacuated from their homes and surroundings in July.

It was a tragic event, but there are ways that it indicates progress.

In 1998, similar levels of flooding led to more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of 7 million homes.

Last year, far fewer lives were lost, in large part because of a new approach focused on environmental improvements, rather than relying solely on hard, grey engineering solutions.

The restoration of close to 300,000 hectares of flood plains, alongside reforestation, has increased flood retention capacity and also supported nature.

–

In England, the Environment Agency, working with local authorities, businesses and community groups, created 531 hectares of blanket bog, and restored a further 2,148 hectares in 2019/2020.

Restoring peatland filters water, meaning water companies use less chemical treatment, while also slowing the flow, reducing downstream flood risk.

–

Simone de Beauvoir said: “Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.”

Greta Thunberg has talked about “cathedral thinking”: that the urgency of the climate emergency means we must lay the first stone without knowing exactly how to construct the ceiling.

That spirit of innovation is alive in India, where the government has established six small-scale adaptation projects in diverse regions of the country.

The projects range from mangrove restoration to the use of short-duration crops that mature in 70 days to adapt to late sowing conditions.

Instead of pursuing one large national project, the approach is piloting different models – designed so that they can be replicated elsewhere – and is establishing networks to share knowledge across the country.

Last week, I visited the Lower River Otter in England which was separated from its floodplain to create farmland in 1812.

This artificial alignment of the river increases water pollution from cattle slurry and fertilisers and now, severe and regular storms threaten to overwhelm the embankments.

To address this, the landowner, Clinton Devon Estates, alongside the Environment Agency, and East Devon Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust, have created a £15 million scheme over 150 hectares to improve resilience in the valley.

Embankments will be breached to allow land to flood at high tide.

It will also create a wildlife reserve providing habitat for wading birds, reedbed & grazing marsh.

The project is partnered with another in France, and if successful the model will be rolled out further.

–

Elsewhere in England, a £150 million flood innovation programme from the UK Government is allowing the Environment Agency to put new ideas to the test.

For example:

• In South Tyneside, a project supporting coastal adaptation aims to restore sub-tidal habitats (such as kelp beds, oyster reefs and sea grass) to protect against coastal erosion and flooding. Additional benefits include carbon sequestration and storage, improved water quality and provide fish nursery habitats.
• In Slough, we are trialing the Chinese “Sponge City” initiative concept. Sponge cities address surface water and river flooding with permeable road surfacing, green roofs and natural vegetation.
• In Cornwall – which will shortly host the G7 – sand dunes will be designated and protected to make coastal settlements more resilient to coastal erosion and sea level rise.

Even if some of these don’t work, what we learn will be useful.

With the right structure, projects could be scaled up by private finance, helping to prepare for climate shocks, restore nature and create jobs.

This month, the Green Alliance’s report “Jobs for a Green Recovery” said:

• Investing in green initiatives produces more jobs per £1 invested than traditional infrastructure like fossil fuel power generation.
• A healthier environment would directly increase productivity, via tourism, fishing or agriculture, but also indirectly, through improved air quality, urban cooling and reduced sickness.
• A thriving natural environment mitigates the impact of weather events, saving money.
• And, nature investments have a high cost-benefit ratio, with £4.60 back for every £1 invested in peatland, £2.80 back in woodland, and £1.30 back for salt marsh creation.

–

There were 135 million day visits taken to the seaside in England in 2019, which combined with overnight stays were worth £8.1 billion to the economy.

The high standards in bathing waters on the coast have taken significant investment, partnership, regulation, and decades of hard graft.

Now, following the ground-breaking decision to designate a stretch of the River Wharfe as a bathing river, we’ll coordinate similar effort.

Yesterday, Ofwat announced that the water sector plans to invest £2.7 billion in environmental projects to support a green recovery. This follows a joint letter from Defra, the Environment Agency, Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, and the Consumer Council for Water sent to water companies last July.

As part of this, companies will commit over £157 million to help eliminate harm caused by storm overflows and trial the creation of two new bathing rivers.

It demonstrates a renewed commitment to reduce pollution incidents and prepare the country for escalating climate shocks.

–

The communique of the recent G7 Foreign and Development Ministers said:

“We welcome the important work of the members of Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.”

I co-chair the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment with John Haley, CEO of the insurance company Willis Towers Watson; and Samir Assaf, Chair of Corporate and Institutional Banking at HSBC.

By including physical climate risks in upfront financial decision-making, members – who represent over $11 trillion in assets – want to incentivise a shift towards greater resilience.

If that shift doesn’t materialise, then the economic recovery we so badly need will evaporate in a heatwave or wash away in a flood.

In other words, nature will extract the debt we owe it.

In his recent book “Accomplishment”, Sir Michael Barber wrote:

“We need to create a future for ourselves, and for all life on earth, which both affirms humanity and establishes for it a humble, creative and sustainable way of life on this fragile and beautiful planet. That challenge was becoming apparent before the Covid-19 pandemic; now there can be now doubt.”

Investment in nature will accelerate a global economic recovery from coronavirus.

It will create a legacy of steady, long-term returns.

And, it will affirm our humanity.

But, there’s no time to lose.

To repeat the words of Simone de Beauvoir: “Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.”

Thank you.

• New Forum launched to help deliver UK’s National Data Strategy and make sure country harnesses the huge power of data
• Data will play key role in levelling up opportunities and prosperity in UK regions by driving innovation and growth
• Firms backed to seize data opportunities, as new guidance on data sharing enacted

A National Data Strategy Forum to help the country seize the opportunities of data and cement the UK’s place as “the world’s number one data destination” has been announced by the government today.

Minister for Media and Data John Whittingdale and techUK director Sue Daley will chair the forum which will bring together key voices from industry, privacy groups and academia to help implement the UK’s National Data Strategy.

The National Data Strategy is an ambitious, pro-growth strategy that is driving the UK forward in building a world-leading data economy that works for everyone, while ensuring public trust in data use.

The move is announced as the government publishes its response to a consultation on the strategy. The strategy lays out five priority ‘missions’ to be taken to capitalise on the opportunities data offers:

• Unlocking the value of data across the economy
• Securing a pro-growth and trusted data regime
• Transforming government’s use of data to drive efficiency and improve public services
• Ensuring the security and resilience of the infrastructure on which data relies
• Championing the international flow of data

Speaking ahead of a techUK event to launch the new forum, Media and Data Minister John Whittingdale said:

Through the pandemic we have learned how to process data for the public good quicker, more efficiently and more responsibly. Now we need to capitalise on those valuable lessons.

Today we are launching a new forum to support delivery of our National Data Strategy and help us become the world’s number one data destination – boosting growth and creating jobs while maintaining high standards of data protection and governance.

The government has committed to overhauling the way data is used in public services to improve life for people across the UK and points to the nation’s fight against COVID-19 as a prime example, when data was used quickly, efficiently and responsibly to model, predict and ultimately control the spread of the virus.

Climate data from the Met Office helped researchers around the world determine the link between seasonality and the transmission of the virus, while data sharing between healthcare trusts has helped develop faster treatment methods.

Now the government is taking the next steps to look at how the country can leverage existing UK strengths to boost use of data in business, government and civil society.

Work to deliver the strategy is already underway. A £2.6m data project to help in the detection of online harms has been launched and last month the Office for National Statistics’ Data Science Campus said it had already trained almost 700 public sector analysts to use cutting-edge data tools and techniques – smashing the target set in September.

Respondents to the National Data Strategy consultation confirmed the need for action to make sure the UK realises the benefits from better data use and overwhelmingly agreed the National Data Strategy provides an appropriate framework.

Many respondents recognised a need to embrace data as an opportunity to drive productivity and innovation across the economy rather than as a threat to be managed, given risks such as cyber attacks or data breaches.

A new Central Digital and Data Office has now been created to drive forward digital, data and technology transformation across government.

The government is also today laying in Parliament a new data sharing code to make it clearer and easier for firms to share data. The code, developed by the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO), provides practical advice to organisations on how to carry out responsible data sharing.

The ICO has launched a data sharing information hub with guidance and practical tools to help businesses share data fairly, lawfully and transparently, while protecting people’s personal information.

In February the government launched the recruitment for a new Information Commissioner who will be empowered to make sure people can use data to achieve economic and social goals, as well as maintaining their focus on privacy.

It is also leading change on the global stage. As part of the UK’s G7 presidency, the government brought together the world’s leading democracies last month to agree an ambitious vision to put technology at the heart of global efforts to build back better from the pandemic.

Building on the momentum from this, the UK will also host the Future Tech Forum this September. The Forum will convene like-minded democratic partners to discuss the role of technology and data in supporting open societies and tackling global challenges.

Elizabeth Denham, UK Information Commissioner, said:

I welcome the publication of the Government’s response to the National Data Strategy (NDS) consultation. It confirms the need for the UK to maintain high data protection standards, ensuring our regulatory regime remains able to respond to the rapidly evolving technological and societal landscape.

I also welcome the laying of the ICO’s Data Sharing Code in Parliament today. Together with the NDS, the code gives individuals and organisations confidence in using data to fuel economic growth, drive innovation and deliver efficient public services, while ensuring people’s information is protected.

Data is one of modern society’s greatest assets, and creating a framework of public trust and transparency to citizens will be crucial to harnessing its power in the coming decade. Today’s announcements are significant milestones on that journey.

Sue Daley, Director for Technology and Innovation at techUK, said:

Today’s announcements show how determined the Government is to make the UK a global destination for data innovation”.

techUK is excited to play our part in this as a co-chair of the National Data Strategy Forum. The Forum will be central to bringing together the industry, academia and civil society to deliver a data strategy that supports innovation and is built on trust, helping unleash the potential of data driven technologies across the UK.

Cabinet Office Minister Julia Lopez said:

The Central Digital and Data Office is supporting the ambitions of the National Data Strategy by transforming government’s use of data to drive efficiency and improve public services. Our focus on improving data standards, ethics and quality across government will lead to more personalised public services that save taxpayer money.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Read the full UK Government response to the National Data Strategy consultation.

• The government’s new £2.6m Online Safety Data project is modelling how improved systems for classification and sharing of data could support a competitive commercial market in tools able to detect online harms such as cyberbullying, harassment or suicide ideation. Through this programme, the government will review and upgrade the data standards and systems that underpin the monitoring and reporting of online harms such as child sexual abuse, hate speech and self harm and suicide ideation.

• The new ICO code sets out best practice for firms when considering sharing data such as: Assessing the risks using a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA); Following good practice to have a data sharing agreement in place; Following the key principles in data protection legislation; Being aware that the accountability principle means that you are responsible for your compliance, and you must be able to demonstrate that compliance; Sharing personal data fairly and transparently; Identifying at least one lawful basis for sharing data before you start any sharing; Processing personal data securely, with appropriate organisational and technical measures in place.