The Guardian is publishing a major report into the Peverel / Cirrus price-fixing scandal in tomorrow’s newspaper.
It is written by Patrick Collinson, the personal finance editor, and will appear on the front cover of the stand-alone Money section.
It is understood that the report gives the background to the sham tendering that Peverel engaged in, and the disgraceful decision by the Office of Fair Trading to do a leniency deal with the company.
The scandal inevitably raises questions over Andy Davey (above), former head of Cirrus, who is now Peverel’s director of business excellence.
Everything about this OFT inquiry is scandalous. It is almost as serious as the cheating undertaken by Peverel.
The OFT was either suckered into accepting a leniency deal with Peverel in December 2009, or complacently went along with the fiction that Peverel had somehow “turned itself in”.
The demonstrable truth is that Peverel owned up to the practices because it had been rumbled.
The Cirrus scam had even been outlined in the Times on December 4 2009.
Then the inquiry only got underway in April 2011 – 16 months after Peverel supposedly turned itself in.
When the OFT announced its findings last Friday, it declared that the stooge companies involved in the price fixing cartel would be fined £53,410.
But … they won’t be.
In a final display of confidence-sapping cleverness, the OFT did not mention that Peter O’Rourke Electrical based in York went into liquidation in June 2012, and Glyn Jackson Communications based in Leeds went into liquidation in September 2012.
As for Owen Installations, it settled up last February and only paid a “settlement” of £1,777, “thereby benefiting from a settlement discount”.
The company is based in Weymouth and its directors are Jeremy David Owens and Joanne Owens.
Its registered business address is the residential villa belonging to the firm’s accountants.
This is an important article and the pressure on Peverel to pay compensation grows. It is worth looking at the blocks which were involved in the price fixing and if there is one in the constituency in which you live it is something more specific to use in writing to your MP. Is Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation sending a press release to all the local papers covering the developments involved? Thank you all and a happy Christmas – perhaps next year………..
Brenda,
I have spent the past two days searching the 65 developments that were Price Fixed/Tender Rigged and there are some strange similarities such as the first two contracts.
The first and second were from differing areas so it could have been, it was not an isolated occurrence in 2005??
1. Beech Court, Mapperley, Nottinghamshire, who had a Warden Call/Door Entry System?
2. Homefylde House, Blackpool, Lancashire, also had a Warden Call System?
I do not know if these two areas have the same Area or Regional Manager so if any one can inform me we can begin to narrow down where it began?? They both were undertaken by Peter O`Rourke Electrics from Yorkshire?
So do we have a link between Nottingham, Blackpool, and Yorkshire?
Brenda
The following year in 2006 a further 11 developments were Price Fixed/Tender Rigged and they all but one were Tendered for by O`Rourke and a new Tenderer, Glyn Jackson from Leeds Yorkshire??
Glyn Jackson only carried out one contract out of the 11 developments?
So in two years, 13 Price Fixed contracts were undertaken, 12 with O`Rourke and 1 with Jackson.
The fact that O`Rourke and Jackson both were from Yorkshire and that the Head of Cirrus Communications Services Ltd was also shown to be from that part of the country, is there any connection???
Read all about it in the Guardian :
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/dec/14/cirrus-ripping-off-elderly
I think Patrick Collinson should write a followup report on RBS Bank and its 25 Mil Pounds loan to Peverel or to Chamonix and associates . RBS bank is supported 83% by taxpayers’ money.
Why should UK Govt and taxpayers money be used to support Peverel in price fixing business ? RBS already been heavily fined for Libor fixing ?
Please do write on Guardian website suggesting exactly this.
As many people who post on the Guardian, the better
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/dec/14/cirrus-ripping-off-elderly
Chris
The geographical spread over the whole country is remarkable and shows how widespread the practice was. At a rough count there were 10 developments named in Kent and five in Essex. On a north south split there were more in the south but this may reflect the numbers of developments and that they were of the right age to be able to say a system was obsolete and in need of replacement.