A National Business Award given to Cirrus Communications Systems in 2009 – just before its owner Peverel confessed to the Office of Fair Trading that it was running a price-fixing cartel – will not be removed.
The decision has been taken by UBM, the business magazine publisher that runs the awards.
“Cirrus Communication Systems was awarded the Employer of the Year Award in 2009, based on a criteria that recognises the best employee strategy that attracts, retains and develops talent,” said a UBM spokesman.
“Therefore the National Business Awards will not be removing the award.”
Curiously, 15 per cent of the marks given in the award to Cirrus Communications Systems were for “ethics”. The full criteria are listed below, with Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation providing a commentary on a company that so richly deserved to be noticed.
Employer of the Year Award 2009 (with amendments, 2013)
Winner: Cirrus Communication Systems
Categories used for the award:
- Growth 10% – well, pretty pointless to have a cartel without growing the business.
- Innovation 15% – the judges were generous. Stooges for Cirrus Communications routinely bid 15 per cent more than Cirrus, which was quickly spotted and does not suggest inexhaustible imagination.
- Staff engagement 20% – Cirrus staff seem to have been motivated, although a couple have been in touch with Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation to repent.
- Customer service 15% – the hoodwinking of customers was not without fault: the authorities – and MPs – were deluged with complaints before Peverel fessed up. The cartel could have been more subtle, some may have felt.
- Leadership 15% – full marks here for suckering the OFT into offering a leniency deal; for keeping the whole scandal quiet and for obtaining an extraordinarily protracted OFT investigation.
- Ethics 15% – the vocabulary of irony is quite insufficient to do justice to this category.
- Financial performance 10% – another full marks here, with Peverel offering a paltry £100,000 in compensation – sorry, ‘goodwill’ – the cartel was basically successful and without penalty for those involved.
Related posts:
Will Edwina Currie be doling out award to one of Peverel’s alleged price-fixing sites at the Elderly Accommodation Counsel awards?
Guardian covers more fall out from Peverel’s price-fixing scam with Cirrus Communications
ARMA gave Peverel clean bill of health – just as it admitted Cirrus was cheating pensioners with bogus tenders
Guardian examines the Peverel / Cirrus price-fixing scandal tomorrow
This is great news for those who are trying to change the way some developments are allowed to continue with this feudal type of home ownership. Some 90% of those leaseholders that have been approached stated that they were not given the true information from either their Solicitor or Estate Agent?
It seems that the bandwagon includes these other professionals who if they were to explain the truth then no one would purchase other than the 5% AND OBVIOUSLY NO MONEY FOR NO SALE?
Surely this is another nail in the already tarnished coffin,that is known as LEASEHOLD and is Peverel Retirement?
In 2005, Cirrus a sister company of the Peverel Group began PRICE FIXING along with 3 other contractors:-
Cirrus Communications
Peter O’Rourke Electrical
Glyn Jackson Communications
Owens Installations
The main contractor in the Price Fixing/Tender Rigging has to be Cirrus as they were involved in all the 65 contracts.
The only one of the above contractors that will pay a fine is OWENS INSTALLATIONS who is still trading, they were fined £1,77.00.
The total costs to the Tax Payer and Leaseholder has been:
£500,000 OFT COSTS
£1,4000,000 PAID BY RESIDENTS
This means that £7,692.31 can be added to each development?
Recovered by the OFT who stands for FAIR TRADING WAS £1,777.00
O`Rourke and Jackson went into liquidation in 2012 so will not be paying ANY FINE?
SAME WITH CIRRUS NO FINE?
Michael
I remember asking a Peverel Retirement House Manager/Employee, had they not heard of Ethics?
The reply was, everyone knows Ethics is next to Sussex???
How long will it be before a National Business Award is given to Peverel in the category of “Outsourced Employee Of The Year Award?”