Jones Beckett

[cookiemonster]

trying to prove they are a phoenix company.

I have question.

If it can be proved to the appointed liquidators that BroadGate IT has risen from the ashes of JBA, then can it also be proved in court so that Broadgate have to cover the debts of the previous company (JBA)?

i.e can the liquidator seize the assets of the new company to pay of the debt of the old?

)

See my earlier posts about phoenix companies. Yes a director can be held personally liable for debts if you can prove he has set up a phoenix company and acted fraudlently. I also posted a link with a law firm that specialises into looking at phoenix companies if a bunch of people did want to take collective action. The aim here is to get the director struck off and held personally liable for these debts. I am attending the meeting this Friday and hope to get the opportunity to ask about all the dodgy things on this forum.

1) Setup of new company when old one was still running and intending to do CVA's with creditors.

2) How come they didnt cut staff over the period they were in trouble? how much were staff wages, were they cut?

3) How does the factoring work? my wages were paid directly to JBA not to RBS.

4) What old JBA assets have gone over to the new company, this includes existing contracts.

I have a copy of a company report that shows where the directors live and it doesnt make for easy reading. not sure how to attach it on here. The company has the worst credit record and is considered maximum risk.

[TrickyB]

[QUOTE=cookiemonster;1092026] I am attending the meeting this Friday and hope to get the opportunity to ask about all the dodgy things on this forum.

1) Setup of new company when old one was still running and intending to do CVA's with creditors.

2) How come they didnt cut staff over the period they were in trouble? how much were staff wages, were they cut?
QUOTE]

It is worth noting that the JBA website stopped displaying any vacancies from at least the middle of December, which suggests that all new vacancies since then have been routed through Broadgate IT. I wonder whether this means that some of JBA employees were already unofficially working for the new company, or whether any of the JBA client base had already been transferred to the new company. I bet there are contracts advertised by Broadgate for clients who have formally been JBA clients.

What is pretty obvious is that the Directors of JBA have been preparing to dump JBA since sometime last year, and JBAs finances will have been getting even worse because of this.

[crazyfrog]

cookiemonster: ask how much Beckett paid himself last year!

TrickieB:

One of the employees of JBA (Thomas Russell) tried to get me to join his LinkedIn network, when I was in the middle of trying to get my money out of them...cheeky ****.

Anyway, his profile now is identical to his original profile, other than all references to JBA have been replaced by Broadgate IT. So...he has been working for Broadgate IT since leaving college in 2006! No mention of JBA at all....other than his primary email...which is still his jba-it email. Knob.

Don't trust anyone from Broadgate IT at all if they have to lie about their association with JBA.

NB: Can you get people banned from LinkedIn for lying?

[DarkKnight]

what a disgrace. Worth noting they have also started another firm called KB europe, I think this is in the event they get shutdown. It might also be a smokescreen so people blame Broadgate IT and not KB Europe

[contractor79]

like me I'm sure you were all given the excuse that they were factored via RBS. RBS were apparently not paying them and so they couldn't pay us. However as far as I'm aware my client paid them directly, which makes their excuse invalid and fraudulent in my opinion. Do any of you know more about the RBS thing? did your clients pay RBS or JBA? what happened to the money that RBS owed them? if it is not a lie then fair enough. However if it was in any part a lie, then it should be fraudulent and actually defamatory to RBS.

I've written to my MP, who is going to investigate as well as trading standards and businesslink. I also spoke to a policeman who used to work as a bailiff. He specialised in dealing with phoenix frauds. According to him Companies house would strike him off if it can be shown that he was fraudulent. In any case we should all contact Companies House and report this.

hi, thanks for this info. In order for me to contact my MP with more information about this situation could you perhaps elaborate on this site or in private message if more appropriate, what the RBS thing is all about since I've not heard about that at all. Perhaps some of the newspapers would also be interested if RBS is involved, thanks.

[svb70]

@contractor79: links to these sites are posted earlier in this thread.

I contacted jobserve to get their take on them allowing dodgy companies to post jobs through their site. Considering they earn money from all who advertise through their site, I was impressed with their concern. An excerpt from a response I received,

"..We have had another candidate express concern over Broadgate IT are currently investigating the issue. JBA have previously posted with us and are currently suspended, so if this company turns out to be the same guys I'm sure something will be done to stop them posting..."

So jobserve and any other job sites may want to hear from all of you affected by JBA's conduct.

Today's "liquidator" meeting only clarified that we will not see any money. But with a Directors renumeration of over £600 000, Beckett might, or probably already has!

ps. If anyone at the meeting would like to stay in touch please pm me

[fusionteam]

Any news on yetserday's meeting and possible outcomes? Just so that everyone knows I was told by Fiona in accounts at JBA, that there wasn't any money to pay anyone as RBS had not released fund to their factoring company. I also know that the client has made payment direct to JBA for all outstanding invoices, to try and speed up the process of me getting paid.

Never once were we told that the company was struggling or in trouble. They got the money then turned off the email and phones. What lovely people these recruitment agents are!

[crazyfrog]

600K to the director(s)? They're taking the P***!

Who was appointed Liquidator? I'm sure i will be told in due course but I want to be ahead of the game.

Who are the major creditors and how much is owed?

My cousin is a barrister (not practising, but working for a company doing the same stuff) who specialises in contract law and said that Gillhams (mentioned in a previous link) are a good company, so maybe it would be worth contacting them (if enough is owed to people who want to see some of it).

However, I think it is the legal duty of the liquidator to investigate the standing of the company, if they believe something dubious has gone on then it can be passed onto the right authorities. There could be a chance of proving Beckett personally liable. Who knows...perhaps, with luck, he could end up doing a stretch and being oh so nervous about dropping that soap in the showers!

[centurian]

But with a Directors renumeration of over £600 000, Beckett might, or probably already has!

Is there any indication over what period that was?

[cookiemonster]

JBA Meeting details

Is there any indication over what period that was?

this was draft accounts for the period 1/2/09 to 31/12/09

it is interesting how the directors remuneration is more or less equivalent to the total debt of 671,941k

up to the year 31/01/09 the administrative expenses of the company was 1,000,350 when they had 26 members of staff

over the year 1/02/09 to 31/12/09 the administrative expenses of the company was 1,405,593 when they supposedly slashed all their costs and cut staff down from 26 to 9.

there is also the matter of a directors loan to francis david jones of 100k which supposedly he has not paid back even though he quit last summer. so that should be coming back to the kitty in some shape or form.

then its just a case of seeing what the directors remuneration is all about! liquidators did say if it was seen as being too high when company was losing money then they can go after that.

In that meeting it is very clear that Nick Bennett is a untrustworthy individual with no remorse over what has happened but also very meek and pathetic. Collective action could bring this man down like a pack of cards, he isn't particularly bright in any way. Very vague on all his answers, couldn't remember much about his own company. No doubt liquidators should have a field day with him.