On 9 June 2017 at the County Court at Coventry Judge Jones at the made a disqualification order against Mr Warland that he could not act as a director for ten years from 30 June 2017.

An Insolvency Service investigation found that the company sold five motor vehicles belonging to customers under sale or return agreements and failed to pass on the money from the sales – totaling at least £174,450 – to the customers.

The company went into liquidation on 24 October 2014, owing an estimated £573,502 to creditors.

Aldona O’ Hara, Investigation Leader, Insolvent Investigations Midlands & West at the Insolvency Service, said:

The Insolvency Service will rigorously pursue company directors who deliberately breach the trust of customers. Fair treatment of customers and creditors is essential for business confidence which is, in turn, essential for economic growth.

This disqualification is a reminder to others tempted to do the same that the Insolvency Service will rigorously pursue enforcement action to seek and remove from them the privilege of trading with limited liability to protect the public for a lengthy period.

Notes to editors

Choice Vehicles Ltd (CRO No. 05438683) was incorporated on 28 April 2005 and traded from Wharf Farm, Trinity Marina, Coventry Road, Hinckley, Leicestershire, LE10 0NB.

Kevin James Warland (date of birth: 2 April 1977) was the appointed director from incorporation on 28 April 2005 to the date of the creditors’ voluntary liquidation on 24 October 2014.

The company went into liquidation on 24 October 2014. On 9 June 2017, the County Court Sitting at Coventry made a Disqualification Order against Kevin James Warland, from 30 June 2017, for 10 years.

The matters of unfit conduct upon which the Secretary of State’s claim was based were that:

Between 2 January 2014 and 31 July 2014, Kevin James Warland failed to ensure Choice Vehicles Ltd (Choice) adhered to the terms and conditions contained within its sale or return agreement’s in respect of customer vehicles. As a result Choice sold five motor vehicles, but failed to remit the agreed amounts to customers. At the date of liquidation these five customers submitted claims in the liquidation proceedings totalling £174,450 in respect of monies owed to them.

Choice commenced trading in April 2005 as a seller of motor vehicles.

On 02 January 2014, Choice entered into a sale or return motor vehicle agreement with a customer, (Customer A) to sell the customer’s vehicle for an agreed price of £73,000 and remit the agreed amount to the customer on sale of the vehicle within ten days of receipt of the proceeds in cleared funds. The subsequent agreed price was £68,000. On or around 14 April 2014 Choice sold the vehicle, but no monies were paid to Customer A within the specified ten days.

Following enforcement action taken by Customer A, on 22 July 2014 a County Court Judgment was registered against Choice for £70,426 and on 12 August 2014 a writ of control was obtained. Following enforcement action payments totalling £35,000 (includes legal costs and interest) were made to Customer A. At the date of liquidation, £47,502 (includes legal costs and interest) remained unpaid to Customer A.

On 26 April 2014, Choice entered into a sale or return motor vehicle agreement with a customer, (Customer B) to sell the customer’s vehicle at an agreed price of £60,000. Choice also agreed to settle the outstanding finance due to a third party. The subsequent agreed price was £58,000. Choice sold the motor vehicle and paid £4,400 to Customer B, but no monies were paid to settle the outstanding finance. At the date of liquidation £53,449 remained unpaid to the third party, which Customer B is paying personally. Customer B is a creditor in the Liquidation for £53,449.

On 30 May 2014, Choice entered into a sale or return motor vehicle agreement with a customer, (Customer C) to sell the customer’s vehicle at an agreed price of £31,000 and remit the agreed amount to the customer on sale of the vehicle within ten days of receipt of the proceeds in cleared funds. The subsequent agreed price was £29,000. On 21 August 2014 Choice sold the vehicle but no monies were paid to the customer on sale of the vehicle. On 01 September 2014 by way of security Choice gave the customer a key and log book of a third party motor vehicle. This motor vehicle subsequently disappeared.

On 15 September 2014, Mr Warland entered into an instalment plan with Customer C to pay £29,500. Payments totalling £5,000 were made to the instalment plan and a further payment of £2,000 was made by Mr Warland. At the date of liquidation £22,500 remained unpaid to Customer C.

On 19 July 2014, Choice entered into a sale or return motor vehicle agreement with a customer, (Customer D) to sell the customer’s vehicle at an agreed price of £19,000 and remit the agreed amount to the customer on sale of the vehicle within ten days of receipt of the proceeds in cleared funds. Choice sold the vehicle but no monies were paid to the customer on sale of the vehicle. At the date of liquidation the full amount of £19,000 remained unpaid to Customer D.

On 31 July 2014, Choice entered into a sale or return motor vehicle agreement with a customer, (Customer E) to sell the customer’s vehicle for an agreed price of £33,000 and remit the agreed amount to the customer on sale of the vehicle within ten days of receipt of the proceeds in cleared funds. The subsequent agreed amount was £32,000. Choice sold the vehicle on or around 20 August 2014, but no monies were paid by Choice to Customer E. At the date of liquidation the full amount of £32,000 remained unpaid to Customer E.

At the date of liquidation a total of £174,450 remained unpaid to these five customers.

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

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a [range of other restrictions]( https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/corporate-insolvency-effect-of-a-disqualification-order

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:

Our new practice guide will help our customers meet the registration requirements for transactions involving overseas companies and overseas limited liability partnerships.

The UK Space Agency is working with research institutions, industry and non-profit organisations to develop strong international partnerships to help tackle economic, societal and environmental issues using satellite technology.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns will today (31 July) travel to Belgium to join thousands of descendants of First World War soldiers in services of remembrance for those who fought and died in the Battle of Passchendaele.

The battle of Passchendaele was fought near Ypres between 31 July and 10 November 1917, in battlefields that turned to liquid mud. It is remembered as one of the bloodiest of the First World War and one that took the lives of 2,992 soldiers from The 38th (Welsh) division.

Welsh poet Hedd Wynn, who was killed on the first day of Passchendaele, will also be honoured at the services.

The Secretary of State for Wales will honour the memories of the fallen Welsh soldiers at the UK Government and Welsh Government’s centenary commemorations.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said:

The centenary commemorations of Passchendaele offer a unique opportunity to bring us together as a nation – to honour the lives and bravery of all those who served in the war – both in the military and on the home front.

I am privileged to be here to pay my own personal respects to the Welsh soldiers who played a pivotal role in the bloodiest of battlefields.

Whether we reflect on the horrors of war, remember family members who served, or visit a memorial, the centenary of the First World War provides an opportunity to better understand our past – and how it still shapes us today.

With no living veterans of the First World War, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren stand at the heart of the UK Government’s official centenary commemorations which will be held amongst the 12,000 gravestones and the Memorial Wall to the Missing at the Tyne Cot Cemetery.

Mr Cairns will then travel to the Wales commemorations at the Welsh National Memorial in Flanders where he will lay a wreath at the feet of the red bronze dragon on behalf of the UK Government. He will later join the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones on a tour of Artillery Wood Cemetery where Hedd Wyn was laid to rest.

Ahead of his visit to Belgium, the Welsh Secretary took the opportunity to meet with veterans at the Cardiff branch of the Royal British Legion to underline the gratitude and respect the people of Wales have for the sacrifices they made.

Mr Cairns added:

We are privileged to have a long and proud military history in Wales and itis a huge honour today to meet with Welsh veterans that have lived through a range of conflicts over the years.

The work that the British Legion does to improve the lives of the armed forces community cannot be underestimated. It plays such a critical role from awarding grants, offering emotional support and comradeship and ensuring the nation comes together to remember. These veterans truly are an inspiration. They gave so much and for that we owe them a great deal.

Notes to editors

• The Centenary of Passchendaele, the Third Battle of Ypres is a key part of the UK Government’s four year programme to commemorate the First World War.

• The Welsh Memorial is located at Boezingestraat 158, 8920 Langemark-Poelkapelle, Belgium.

• During the action of the Third Battle of Ypres three Welshmen won the Victoria Cross, Sergeant Ivor Rees 11th South Wales Borderers, Corporal James Llewellyn Davies 13th Royal Welsh Fusiliers and Sergeant Robert Bye 1st Welsh Guards.

Homes and businesses from all parts of the UK are set to benefit from universal high speed broadband, the UK Government announced today.

BT has put forward an offer to voluntarily provide this service across the country, which would largely be delivered by Openreach. The offer has been received after the government committed to introduce a Universal Service Obligation (USO) through regulation to give every home and business in the UK the right to request a high speed connection of at least 10 Megabits per second (Mbps). That’s the speed that will meet the typical needs of a family for them to be able to stream films, carry out video conferencing and browse the web at the same time.

The BT proposal would mean many premises will receive substantially more than 10Mbps – homes and businesses are also expected receive connections more quickly than could be delivered under a regulatory approach. The Government will now consider this offer alongside a consultation on the regulatory USO – which is being launched today.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

The UK Government is committed to ensuring the UK is leading the way in broadband provision. Successful broadband partnerships are creating a lasting legacy in Wales, which will play a key role in the future prosperity of our communities. The Government will now consider the proposals carefully to ensure the final decision provides the best outcomes for the people of Wales.

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said:

The government is taking action to ensure that people everywhere in the UK can get a decent broadband connection as soon as possible. We warmly welcome BT’s offer and now will look at whether this or a regulatory approach works better for homes and businesses.

Whichever of the two approaches we go with in the end, the driving force behind our decision making will be making sure we get the best deal for consumers.

The communications regulator, Ofcom, has advised that 10Mbps, with quality requirements to limit delays and support uploading content as well as downloading it, meeting the needs of a typical household. It will also provide improved connectivity for many small businesses. A regulatory USO would provide a safety net, meaning that fast and reliable broadband was available to everyone, regardless of where they lived. Our consultation opening today will outline detailed proposals for how this new right to request a connection would work in practice.

This will help Government take a decision on the best way to get better broadband in hard to reach areas. No decision has been taken, and the Government will carefully weigh the merits of the two approaches. Unlike under a regulatory USO, the proposal from BT is to proactively build the necessary network infrastructure to connect the majority of households and businesses rather than wait for this to be done on request.

It is also proposed that BT would fund this investment and recover its costs through the charges for products providing access to its local access networks. The approach to recovering these costs will be considered in Ofcom’s current wholesale local access review.

BT Chief Executive Gavin Patterson said:

We are pleased to make a voluntary offer to deliver the Government’s goal for universal broadband access at minimum speeds of 10Mbps.

This would involve an estimated investment of £450m – £600m depending on the final technology solution.

This investment will reinforce the UK’s status as the leading digital economy in the G20. We already expect 95% of homes and businesses to have access to superfast broadband speeds of 24Mbps or faster by the end of 2017. Our latest initiative aims to ensure that all UK premises can get faster broadband, even in the hardest to reach parts of the UK.

The Government will now work with BT over the coming months to develop the proposal – which, if it is accepted, will be legally-binding. The Government will make a decision following its consultation on the regulatory USO.

Notes to editors:

1. BT proposes to use a range of technologies to deliver this, including fibre to the cabinet and fibre to the home.
2. It proposes to use fixed broadband technologies to take the UK’s 10Mbps fixed coverage to 99 per cent. It expects to complete the build of this fixed network by either December 2021 or December 2022 depending on the mix of technologies used, some of which are subject to trial and industry consultation.
3. However, BT plans to launch the fixed wireless service before then so that the UK will have 10Mbps coverage to around 99% by the end of 2020. Fixed wireless will be made available at an affordable price for hard to reach premises.
4. All of these technologies will come with quality standards including a minimum 1Mbps upload speeds, and requirements to minimise delays from contention and latency.
5. The number of premises that will only have satellite as an option is expected to be 0.3% by the end of 2022.
6. Today, over 93 per cent of UK homes and businesses can already get superfast broadband (24 Mbps+), and as a direct result of the Government’s Superfast Broadband Programme, this will increase to 95 per cent by the end of this year.