02089564110

dont lie, it's legit. You're all PA's that take your job too seriously.
Yes it is a sales call.
No they are not fraudsters.
Yes you actually do get advertised.
Yes the year book does actually get sent to MP's.

Can't believe how uptight you glorified receptionists are.

Received a call from a Samantha Seagall asking to speak to my boss, Headteacher of excellent-rated school, asking for permission to include school in publication about Excellence in Education.  Gave me this number to call bac her PA!!! and let them know if permission was given.  When asked (because I was suspicious) what happened next she said nothing!

Will speak to my boss but know he will say forget it.

A call from David Scott\or Stott, left with my wife. Can't wait to speak to him. PIO doesn't exist apparently.

Received a call from David Walker - 0208 956 4110 - perporting to be from the Parliamentary Information Office, re a report on Maritime Industries, headed by Martin Prisk.
This is a SCAM.

ha ha

Michael Bourne called once earlier in the week to get the MDs name and then again to pitch a cheaper page - only £495 . As a micro-SME that has just got a uk gov contract, I nearly fell for it. This website saved me.

Lawrence Rowe contacted my organisation some time ago, it took just a couple of minutes to unpick the attempted fraud.  Just out of interest, I spent a little time digging and uncovered a little information about the ‘Parliamentary Information Office’

Firstly, the accusations made against the cold callers – misrepresentation, lying, fraud and, false names.  

Call centre staff are apparently recruited from adverts placed in the ‘Stage Magazine’ and are out of work actors using apparently false names.

Call centre staff are not paid.  They are on commission only.  Perhaps hunger accounts for the tactics used by the cold callers.  Staff turnover in the call centre is high.

Names given by cold callers (all found on the web) - check also Who Calls Me  www.whocallsme.com

the ecclesiastic – three Bishops, a Church, a Bell and a Parish
the colourful – Messrs Black, Brown and Green
the strong – Castle, Towers and Knight
A confusion over Owen Charles and Charles Owen.

And, absolutely no foreign names among any of the cold callers – are Blake’s not breaking some regulation re equality on top of everything else?

A few other websites of interest – Companies House – enter any of the company numbers below
Also, www.checksure.biz   gives numerous details re past companies used by Blake’s

Blake Contract Publishing Limited (Insolvency Proceedings)   03034602
Blake’s Contract Ltd   03086287
Parliamentary Information Services   3532831
The Blake Organisation Limited (Dissolved or Strike Off pending)   03821680
Blake’s (International Division) Limited (Dissolved or Strike Off pending   02532042
Blake’s Houses of Parliament Year Book International Limited   02587421
Blake Publications Limited (Dissolved or Strike Off pending)   02831278
    5 December 2001 Compulsory Winding Up Order, Petition by Inland Revenue. Hearing at     High Courts of Justice, The Strand. (Finance Magazine, 28 November 2001, page 17)
BCP Properties Ltd (shared an address with Blake’s in the past – Gable House)
    BCP may indicate Blake’s Contract Printing/Publishing   02027963

Check the variety of addresses used on Checksure’s website – especially at their previous address of 239 Regents Park Road.

Blake’s have a proud claim that their Parliamentary Year Book is held in high regard and even has a special place in the Speaker’s Chair – check their website’s home page and you will find the claim on the scrolling list of quotes (Bernard Weatherill, comes just after Tony Blair).  This caught my attention, so I enquired of the House of Commons Information Office (the real Information Office for Parliament) who enquired of the Speaker’s Office on my behalf.  I received a written reply to my enquiry which stated that ‘this book is not kept in the Speaker’s Chair’, the Speaker’s Office are aware of this on Blake’s website and have written to them to ask them to remove it from their website as it is untrue.’.  Blake’s now attribute the claim to Bernard Weatherill, a now deceased MP – so apparently the claim can remain on their website.

Beware, Blake’s has many guises, and now operates internationally in Europe and in North America, it is not just those in the UK that are affected by this company.

Other numbers used by Blake’s Parliamentary Information Office over the years include –
0208 356 4000   0208 356 4065
0208 956 4000   0208 956 4041   0208 956 4061   0208 956 4065    
0208 956 4070   0208 956 4087   0208 956 4100   0208 956 4110
I am sure that there are some numbers not listed here.

Addresses used by Blake’s over the years –
(details from Check Sure, Credit Gate and Companies House)
Second Floor, Gadd House, Arcadia Road, Finchley, London, N3 3JU (current)
Gable House, 239 Regents Park Road, Finchley, London, N3 3LF
12 – 14 High Road, East Finchley, London, N3 9JP (Trading address only)
ACI House, Torrington Park, London, N12 9SZ (Trading address only)
22 Parkway, Southgate, London, N14 6QU

Action has been taken against the company by – Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise and more than one Trading Standards organisation.

The Department of Education wrote to the Editor, Parliamentary Yearbook on 15 October 2007 after educational establishments received a flurry of calls from the PIO.

Yet to this day, with over 30 years trading history, the company appears fireproof and immune from meaningful action.  There are some interesting questions needing an answer.  Perhaps we should nominate the company for an award, The Queen’s Award to Industry, they are certainly successful.

John Bradley from "The Parliamentary Information Office" called me today, he was that well spoken I stood up whilst he spoke to me.  Wanted permission to include us in a Government report he was compiling.  0208 9564110

David Walker is still out there folks with his 'Nigel Havers' sounding voice! He wishes to speak to the MD (knows his name) and is still calling from the Parliamentary Information Office. He now claims that there is a new Government initiative for recognising excellence in the marine, subsea and offshore industry sector. A huge thank you to all of you for confirming just what I thought - a scam!

Just got a call from David Walker  - said he was Head of Production (always good to ask their title - it throws them) which got my spider senses tingling -

Government initiative on Marine

Thanks to this website now certain it is a sales call -

The infamous young david walker called our office from the govement parlimentry information office... based between burger king and quicktan somewhere in north london. He was plying us with all the gold incrusted, turd injected drivel that you have all talked about.

He was pushing for information on the shipping industry as a whole and what we did as a company within it.
We were pleased to inform him that we were the chartering managers and commercial operators for the vsl The Black Pearl and that our trade lane was off the coast of  somalia and in the bermuda triangle.

Business is especially bad this time of year because Pugwash maritime have contractually taken all the pieces of eight and that captain barbosa has drukenly sailed one of our ships into the italian rocks. But aye, otherwise things are rosy.

Shame we dont think he will write it in his book of parlimentary fairytails.

I had a call from Blakes a while ago - so I called my friend at De Havilland. She managed to obtain a copy of the book. I laughed. It looks like a dog eared piece of rubbish that has been dug from the storeroom of a 1960s library! The cover is a hideous brown plastic leather 'thing' - not leather bound at all and there is no discernible logo to indicate that it would be a parliamentary book - and this was the 2009 version! If this 'sits in the speaker's chair' I'm sure Sally Bercow would be upset at her husband's poor housekeeping!

Phone Call from Edward Hughes re environmental sustainability report.  

Regular callers!

I've shopped these jokers to the Lib Dem press office as they have a quasi-endorsement from Nick Clegg regarding their 'Parliamentary Yearbook' - obviously trying to trade on his name. I don't usually go to such lengths, but just fess up that it's a sales call and don't mask yourself behind all this BS.

The most recent guy who called me was John Bradley from the Parliamentary Office on 0208 956 4110 saying that he was “Seeking permission as to whether or not my company could be mentioned in a government report."

So yearbook given free to government report? I know standards are slipping, but...

Claimed to be from the Parliamentary Info. Office.  They call all the time - even when I hung up they called back to tell me not to hang up on them...so I did.

The girl today tried to sound posh and said she had a secretary whilst you can hear the call centre behind her going on...it must be a really crap job for them but they always make me laugh with the rubbish they spout.  They've never got by me to get to my boss yet and they never will!!!!

Mary :)

After reading on their site that the speaker of the house of commons allegedly keeps a copy with him at all times (or something equally fanciful) - I contacted the House of Commons directly to inform them of this company. Below is their response, they are obviously aware of them... Note: "this organisation is completely unaffiliated with the Houses of Parliament... the term "Parliamentary Information Office/Service" cannot be trademarked, and therefore we cannot prevent Blakes from using it."

_____________________________________________________________________________________


Thank you for your e-mail concerning the "Parliamentary Information Office/Parliamentary Information Service".

As you are aware, this organisation is completely unaffiliated with the Houses of Parliament, but works for a publishing company called Blakes, which produces a Parliamentary Yearbook. I have attached a link to their website below:

- http://www.blakesparliamentaryyearbook.co.uk

This is a legitimate publication, although unofficial.  The term "Parliamentary Information Office/Service" cannot be trademarked, and therefore we cannot prevent Blakes from using it.

If you feel you have been mislead, you can contact the Trading Standards Institute. Their website address is as follows:

- http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/

House of Commons Information Office

Got a call on this number from Andrew Goddard calling from the "parlimentary office" this is not the first call of this type we are very familiar with them. They call for weeks asking for MD, President, FD, etc. get very rudebefore being told politely to go away and then give up for a month or so before starting again with another initiative!

These people always try too hard to be "posh" and are slightly defensive, they also speak in a "you should know this information, stupid" manner

I now take these calls when they come through for my own amusement!

Looks like a group calling themselves the "Parliamentary Information Office" is up to the same tricks again.  A lady putting on a very fake posh accent and trying to use long words that were strangely out of place just called me offering a slot in the "Parliamentary Year Book", and citing Barclays Capital and ICICI UK as being contributors.  She also dropped the names of lots of politicians specifically as being contributors, and said that the book gets a special place in the Speaker's Chair!

Quite funny, but a bit annoying too.  Isn't it illegal to masquerade as being a Parliamentary body?

Pippa Mackintosh from Parliamentary Information Office wanted to talk to MD Banking about excellence in banking and finance. Incredibly posh accent, name dropped a few MPs refused to send any information by email.

Got a call from a Peter Mercer in respect of this so-called Initiative for Excellence at Work. He asked if a Board Director was available to take the call.  I told him we were a small co (less than 5 workplace workers) and why was he contacting us specifically, and he said he wasn't at liberty to tell me (i.e. he would probably have to shoot me presumably?!)