02089564110

Richard Asprey of Parliamentry Information Office called - very insistent that he speaks to the CEO urgently regarding the Secretary of State's Defence cuts.  Claims to have spoken with the CEO previously (a lie!) and that time is of the essence etc etc.

He failed to get past the gate keeper!

Charles Hudson calling every week or so for about a month. I eventually took a message today, and he said it's about a government initiative in clean energy - and it's good news. I asked what his involvement is with this "initiative" and he said that he is heading it up. I asked what he hoped to gain from my boss and he said it's an "initial conversation". I asked several similar questions and got nowhere. So I said I will pass his details to my boss (I won't!) but I doubt he will call back as the details left with me are so sketchy.

Charles Hudson - Parliamentary Information Office - 'Excellence in Energy Research'!  gave a different number to call back on - 0208 9564044

Yep yesterday I too got a call from Monica Khan. I smelt a rat and asked "are you a civil servant?" and "do you actually work for parliament?". As soon as she said no I knew it was a scam. She tried to evaded the cost issue when I asked how much does she want so I made it clear I know this is a scam and said good bye. Please be aware of Parliamentary Information Office.

Just had a call as we, it would seem, are a company that 'represents excellence in health and safety'. I gave him plenty of time to go through his well worded spiel but at the end of it he had used a lot of words to say not a lot. I asked how they had determined that we were such a well valued company and got another deluge, stuffed with enough keywords which are massively general and probably catch most companies, yet sound specific to you. Its a good script but it's just another one of those 'spend £X for exclusive entry into X book' phone calls which come round on an almost weekly basis.

Have had Charles Hudson from Parliamentary Information Office on the phone about 5 times now asking for our MD.  Well of course I ask for more info before I put the call through.  He refuses to send me an email with his contact details on, he has no website for me to refer to, so the alarm bells are ringing straight away.  He speaks with a posh accent and makes you believe he is important.  Don't fall for it.

Basil Newman called on behalf of Vince Cable today asking to speak to my MD regarding an initiative Dr Cable was running in security.

When I asked for him to be more specific he said that Mr Cable asked him to only speak to the MD and if the MD wouldn't speak to him then that is his decision.

I found it quite easy to find an e-mail address for Vince Cables' office and can't wait to hear back from them.

I've just had a call from the Parliamentary Information Office, too.  Again, a very well spoken (too well spoken, I suspect) gentleman who would only speak to the MD about an (unpublished) Government Initiative.  He didn't get past me and I'm glad I Googled the organisation he claimed to be from.  If he calls back he'll not do any better than he did before.

Cold call recieved from posh speaking Simon Baker, followed up with a waffly email.
Nearly £2000 requested for inclusion in a diplomatic and consular yearbook.
Sounds like a scam to me! We have been selected for excellence, yet only just started trading as an organisation, pull the other one.

Hi all,

I have previously worked for this company, they are not Parliamentary Information Office but known as Blake Media (the government cannot stop Blake's from using PIO; this is why the company has not been shut for 30 years). Owned by David Blake and Judith Briers (disqualified directors in the past). With helping hands of Ben Wiser who manages the sales staff (refers himself to Tom Collins on the phone as Project Director or Finance Director).

The staff use 'fake names' as it helps with a new posh character (that's what the employees are told) but the real reason the employees are made to change their names, the names do not  appear on sites such as Who Called me etc.

The Parliamentary Yearbook is a scam, a pack of leads are provided to each staff with their own section (excellence in ............) and all are given a script to call find our MD names and pitch them.

Companies are told there will only be 6 sections with your industry as centrepiece topic, each section only with 6 companies each, with contributions from Ministers. That's a lie.. there have been at least 50 sections in this year alone and companies being scammed to believe such things is disgusting.

The plan for the company is to get the person on the other side of the phone (a decision maker) to get excited upon the idea and sign up for the YB. In return the company only wants a short confirming sentence via email to confirm your attention to be involved, so they don't invoice you until a few months where their terms and conditions come in handy, and companies are forced to pay up.

Please Note: what is said by the employees on the phone will never be confirmed in writing this is why companies are not able to prove anything the company has promised, the things that's will never be confirmed by e-mail will be:
- The companies already on board
- Ministers heading this project up
- You will be one of the final 6 that will appear etc.

So, the prices appear as 500 Words (£2750) and 1000 Words (£4950). If you are a non-for-profit org (£950) but this price is there for companies that cannot afford the full price to Mr Tom Collins above steps in as a second voice to be generous and offer at that price.

Once the booking message is in, the employee gets paid the commission and that's how the company operates, they will continue to run as a org as they do not confirm anything in writing but only over the phone so you as a company who has signed up will never be able to do anything expect pay.

Horrible operation, please be careful and do not take any cold callers or believe what the other person on the phone is saying, there are legitimate originations out there so please ask companies to confirm what they have promised you or email you their details before you give your personal details.

I hope this helps!
If you have any questions I will check back and see if I can help anyone by reposting.

I was contacted by a company called Associated Business Ltd in early 2015. On a quick Google check, I found they were linked to Blake Media but unfortunately I did not see anything negative. They were offering publication in something called the European Chamber of Commerce Business-to-Business Contacts Guide. I'm not sure if they have honed their marketing pitch, but it did seem legitimate and as it matched our marketing goals I went ahead (having haggled them down to £750 for a simple advert). Here we are, over a year later, and still no advert. We have managed to get back £230 in two installments, but are still out £420. I call very regularly, always being told that Judy (who I have now discovered is Judith Briers) is in a meeting, will call back straight away etc. I think she has returned a call twice in all these attempts. I feel stupid for having been drawn in, but grateful that my business hasn't lost too much money to these con-artists!