08456806308

well said Angela they are all liars. another one of their managers who contacted me was called Stephen McCoy thats another name to add to the list. will contact Watchdog now thanks.

Watchdog is a body that investigates consumers that have suffered a financial loss. If there is anyone here that has suffered a loss then I would strongly recommend you contact them. But you must have suffered a financial for it to be deemed a "case". I'm just trying to give practical advice that my sister has given me. There are a lot of angry people here. And rightly so. I wish you all the best

Angela on the watchdog form what subject and category did you put it under.

Ignore him, Angela!

He's just playing the shill to buy time so he can rob a few more suckers.

"David White" and his thieving accomplices at Britannia Law Ltd know that the game is finally up.

They and their evil frauds are well and truly busted.

It's only a matter of time before the detectives smash down their front doors in dawn raids.

And here's hoping that the cops get hold of "White" before we do..  No one threatens my wife like that and walks away...

"David White":    go and hand yourself to your local Police Station.

Far better that you are punished by HM Courts than by those you defrauded with menace!

From http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/archive/2000/10/03 ... all_businesses/ :

Multi-million pound scam fleeced small businesses

North Yorkshire trading standards officers uncovered a massive scam that fleeced tens of thousands of businesses countrywide, Leeds Crown court heard.

They were working jointly with colleagues in Cheshire, Lancashire and Manchester in what is believed to be England's biggest ever trading standards operation, said Robin Spencer QC prosecuting.

He outlined how over four years five company directors used five companies to con small businesses out of hundreds of pounds each.

Each firm was operating a scam involving a promise of business rates reductions.

But the torrent of complaints from their victims, particularly in Yorkshire, prompted North Yorkshire trading standards to investigate the operations of three of the companies, which all used the name Oldfields.

Mr Spencer said that the Oldfields operation at one stage had a turnover of £8 million a year with 43,000 business customers who were conned into handing over at least £200 for no return.

And when one of the five, Jason Clarke, 32, started up the fourth and fifth companies using the name Strattons, their activities prompted the trading standards officers of Cheshire, Lancashire and Manchester to get involved.

Clarke, pleaded guilty to four offences of fraudulent trading with the Oldfields companies and two fraudulent trading offences with the Strattons companies.

Peter Hilton, 57, pleaded guilty to four fraudulent trading offences with the Oldfields companies.

John Stenson, 36, pleaded guilty to two fraudulent trading offences with the Strattons companies.

Lee Hilton, 30, unrelated to Peter Hilton, pleaded guilty to two false trade descriptions offences involving the Strattons companies as did Strattons and Co (Consultant Surveyors) Ltd.

Anthony Dardis, 31, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to two fraudulent trading offences with the Strattons companies. All but Dardis come from Manchester.

Judge Peter Armstrong signed a bench warrant for Peter Hilton after he failed to attend court. The others will be sentenced later this week.

From: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/archive/2000/11/22 ... ned_businesses/

Record compensation for county's conned businesses

SMALL firms across North Yorkshire which were conned in a multi-million pound business rates scam are to receive part of a £160,000 payout.

The compensation money comes after three company directors were jailed at the successful conclusion of the largest investigation ever undertaken by the country's trading standards service.

North Yorkshire trading standards officers spearheaded the investigation before joining forces with their counterparts in Cheshire and Lancashire following a flood of complaints.

It is estimated that about £30,000 will be paid out to conned North Yorkshire firms who gave statements to aid the investigation.

The case involved a range of business rate reduction companies known as Oldfields and Strattons, which defrauded tens of thousands of small businesses across the country.

Customers were duped into paying fees up-front in the belief that their business rates would be reduced or their money refunded.

When the investigation began, the companies had secured 83,000 business customers across the country. Oldfields' gross turnover was about £8 million in fees in two years and Strattons (Consultant Surveyors) was about £6 million per year.

At an earlier hearing at Leeds Crown Court, five men involved with the scam admitted fraudulent trading or knowingly making false statements regarding the nature of services provided.

Jason Clarke, from Manchester, was jailed for 15 months, John Stenson, also from Manchester, was given nine months and Anthony Dardis, from Birmingham, was given 6 months. Lee Hilton, from Manchester, was fined £1,000.

Costs of £116,000 were awarded against the men who agreed to pay £160,000 compensation to their victims.

An arrest warrant was issued for Peter Hilton, from Manchester, who admitted fraudulent trading at the earlier hearing but failed to attend court for sentence.

Richard Flinton, assistant head of North Yorkshire Trading Standards, said: "We are very pleased with the outcome and that we have got compensation for the businesses who contacted us and have worked with us on this prosecution.

"We think the result sends out messages to those who are minded to rip off businesses that we will be just as keen to protect local businesses as we are consumers.

"And while this was a massive investigation involving a lot of resources, we believe that it is important to undertake this kind of operation to protect businesses in the area."

From: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sorted%3A+CON+TRIO+JAILED.-a067293757

SORTED! CON TRIO JAILED

Daily Mirror (LONDON)

by Andrew Penman & Michael Greenwood


THE conmen we branded parasites in January 1997 are finally behind bars.

Trading as Strattons & Co (Consultant Surveyors) and Oldfields, the Manchester-based outfit promised to help small businesses get a rates reduction.

In reality, they achieved an £8million annual turnover by demanding fees from thousands of firms even when they failed to achieve a rates cut.

Three of the culprits have now been jailed following the largest ever trading standards investigation.

Jason Clarke, 32, from Stockport, was sentenced to 15 months after admitting six charges of fraudulent trading.

John Stenson, 36, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, was jailed for nine months.

Anthony Dardis, 31, from Birmingham, for six months after each admitted two similar offences.

Lee Hilton, 30, from Manchester, was fined £1,000 after admitting two charges of making a false trade description.

The defendants were ordered to pay £116,000 costs and £160,000 compensation, which will go mainly to businesses that helped the prosecution.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of a fifth man, Manchester-based Peter Hilton, 57, who failed to appear in court.

At Leeds Crown Court, Robin Spencer QC, prosecuting, said: "It is a case of small businesses being systematically defrauded by paying for a service which was not provided."

Last night Richard Flinton of North Yorks trading standards said: "Our action in bringing this to the courts shows that we will not hesitate to bring similar prosecutions if other people target small businesses in a similar way."

I put it under financial,I am so glad that you are doing it =)

dont worry,I can smell a rat,I will ignore him,They never sent me a copy of the tape or I would have it examined...Did j.chester think I hadnt already thought about that...duh ....great stories ..thankyou

I hope the same happens to Britannia law limited

That's very nice of you to publish me a rat! In future I shall not post my opinions or advice

I posted yesterday. and Angela assumes i am not a real person.
Angela have you not got nothing better to do than constantly post on here.
just seek the right legal advise and get on with it.

Just wondered how you got your appeal all done and dusted so fast, not much to ask of a genuine person.

It is the valuation office that set the target dates Angela. You can just appeal yourself and they will set you with a start date and a target date. Normally within 6 months of appealing. I guess it depends on which area you trade from. During these dates you must provide evidence to suggest the rates are incorrect. I don't know what else to suggest and I don't really want to get involved in name calling. Only came on to try and help only to be slated and accused of being a "shill". As you were

It took 4 months Angela pretty long to me. If your saying thats quick compared to yours then I dont know why it was quicker.

thats great for you .you must be very satisfied .I AM NOT .MINE WILL NOT BE HEARD TILL 2015.not sure why you are on this forum,as you are so happy, and are not reporting a number but well....whatever!!

Angela why are you being so rude? Jodi simply answered your question. It would appear anyone with a slight difference of opinion is not welcome on this "public forum". Anyone who offers practical advise and does not fabricate a complete "drama box set" does not have his or her voice heard. All this about "detectives" and "Dawn" raids. Its not a game of Cluedo. This is real life and would appear to be affecting real people. There does not seem to be many facts which prove useful to anyone that has paid and is worried. And the one person who has come forward and paid who eventually got what she paid for is branded a liar and an accomplice. Now I don't know about you but I have a gym to run. Rude people

Oh Dear...I do hate it when people argue!  I think we are all very lucky to have found this forum, if I hadn't , then I would probably been frightened into paying over £1000 thinking I was the only one

I do think the advice JP is giving is quite reasonable, and I have learned so much in the few days we have been here, I doubt any of us will ever fall for this kind of scam again, and I just wanted to thank all of you for taking the time to contribute. I can't tell you what a relief its been! Thank god none of us have actually paid up.  

Just out of interest Jodi, which county are you living in? I am in Cornwall, perhaps each valuation office is different, and the Cornish do everything at a very slow pace! :-)

Fear not Angela, I smell a rat with JP Chester & Jodi too.... Seems to me their the same person? Look at the post times, very similar, barely a few minutes in it, just enough time to write another post.

I struggle to understand why someone would come on a forum like this to defend blatent scum who are committing fraud! The whole company is fishy, they operate mail drops and dodgy registered addresses with dodgy directors.... I've no idea why anyone honest would want to trade with them!

I'd be very greatful if you could send me a copy of your solicitors letter Val, that would be brilliant.

I would like to thank the genuine customers who have taken the time to post on this site. J P Chester in particular. In any business there will be unhappy clients every company including billion pound corporations have complaint procedures in place in order to investigate breakdowns in customer service. We have in excess of 65 staff members and to my knowledge they are all very professional in there own field until im advised via the correct channels otherwise. I have spoken to Val who you will see has posted on this site previously and I have listened to numerous conversations which have taken place, along with investigating the case thoroughly. Although the conclusion I reached was that we acted appropriately and in accordance with all Laws I agree that certain arrears could have been made clearer and for this reason apologised both over the telephone and in writing to her along with cancelling her file with us. Val was actually a very approachable lady and appreciated that the slandering of our company on this or any forum without the option to respond to any complaint first is disgusting. As explained we have in excess of 65 staff members, the majority of them with families to support of there own and as honest as the day is long. If there are people who represent our company who are found to be unprofessional or dis honest then we would certainly act upon any GENUINE complaint. Most of the posts on this site are fake I do not doubt this, and yet some might have genuine aggrievance. If this is the case I will state again CALL US. Do not be fooled by ill educated people that advise you that this situation will disappear if you ignore our correspondence. We do not operate scare tactics we follow all action through to its conclusion unless we have an active complaint in progress. Finally a note to Angela Croot. If our trade suffers because of the constant nonsense you insist on stating on this site in various different names I advise you now and this in no way is a mere threat. Our company will instigate legal proceedings against you for our losses which potentially could be considerable. We shall see you in court regarding the original matter as the documentation was processed yesterday and to be honest it will be nice to put a face to the person who insists on making racists remarks to our staff and refuses to deal with this matter in the appropriate manner. I am now going to return the favour and go out of my way to cause you as many problems as you are our company. How would you feel if clients of yours went on-line slating your hotel without even complaining to yourself. I now hope your methods continue as you are my new full time job.