INSOLVENCY SERVICE
News Release (Ins/Coms 66) issued by The Government News Network on
11 March 2008
Two office
supplies companies based in Gillingham in Kent have been wound up
in the High Court following an investigation by Companies
Investigation Branch (CIB) of the Insolvency Service.
Butterfly Publishing Limited and Mailroom Direct Limited supplied
franking labels to businesses in the UK. Both companies used cold
calling techniques to sell their products.
An investigation by CIB revealed that customers were induced by
false statements made during unsolicited telephone calls to order
goods. Even when it was plain that the customers' member of
staff to whom they were speaking did not have authority to order
goods, pressure was exerted to persuade the member of staff to
sign and return an order form immediately.
Customers were not informed of the price of the goods before
their order was placed, and were then charged substantially above
the market rate for the goods which they had been misled into
ordering. Customers who attempted to return unwanted goods were
prevented from doing so by means of unnecessarily restrictive
terms and conditions.
The investigation also revealed that the sole director since 2003
of both companies had previously been involved with a business
operating in much the same way (See notes to editors 3 for more details).
Notes to Editors:
1. Butterfly Publishing Limited (trading as "Fastpost")
was incorporated on 10 April 2002. The registered office of the
company is at 8 The Courtyard, Campus Way, Gillingham Business
Park, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 0NZ. The sole recorded director of
the company is Mr Lee Williams. The secretary is shown to be
Company Secretarial Services UK Limited.
2. Mailroom Direct Limited (trading as "Mailroom
Supplies") was incorporated on 30 September 1994. Its name on
incorporation was Postall Supplies (GB) Limited. This name changed
to Mailroom Supplies (Labels) Limited on 19 September 1995. On 30
September 2003 the name was changed again, this time to Mailroom
Direct Wholesale Limited and then on 22 February 2005 the name was
changed to its current style. The registered office of the company
is at 8 The Courtyard, Campus Way, Gillingham Business Park,
Gillingham, Kent, ME8 0NZ. The sole recorded director of the
company is Mr Lee Williams. The secretary is recorded as Company
Secretarial Services UK Limited and also Thanet Company
Secretarial Services Limited.
3. Mr Lee Williams has previously been the subject of enquiries
by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Such enquiries were prompted
from customers regarding unfair trading practices employed by his
companies. Following that investigation Mr Williams, among others,
gave a written assurance to the OFT that he would not make
misleading oral statements. For more information see: http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2003/pn_67-03
4. The petitions to wind up the companies in the public interest
were presented on 17 January 2008 under the provisions of section
124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 following confidential enquiries
carried out by Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) under the
provisions of section 447 of the Companies Act 1985, as amended.
5. The companies were put into provisional liquidation on 23
January 2008 to protect the assets and financial records of the
companies pending determination of the petitions. The companies
were then ordered into liquidation on 5 March 2008.
6. Companies Investigation Branch, part of the Insolvency
Service, carries out confidential enquiries on behalf of the
Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory
Reform (BERR).
7. The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime
investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual
insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to
establish why they became insolvent. The Service also authorises
and regulates the insolvency profession; deals with
disqualification of directors in corporate failures; assesses and
pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer
cannot or will not pay employees; provides banking and investment
services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds; and advises
ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.
8. All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company
should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 21
Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3SS, Tel No: 020 7637 1110.
Email: piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk
9. Further information about the work of The Insolvency Service
is available from http://www.insolvency.gov.uk