vbm Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Alright... I'm very aware of the nervousness of web forums about "libellous" material, so here, for the reference of anybody who might be interested, are a series of (provable) facts. On November 7th last year, I supplied the services of two lighting technicians/operators, and lighting equipment hire including trucking, to Carpenter Live Event Services Ltd for an event at the Park Lane Hilton in London. I agreed in advance with the John Carpenter, the director of the company, the fee for the work and the payment terms, 30 days. I submitted the invoice for the work the day after the job and had a verbal confirmation that the invoice had been received. The last date of the payment terms came and went without payment. Over the next 60 days, I attempted to contact the company by phone and e-mail, with almost no success. On the odd occasion that I was able to speak to John Carpenter, payment promises were made that were not kept. After 60 days (90 days after the event), I submitted a Small Claim in my local County Court to attempt to get paid. This has so far been unsuccessful and I received a letter from Carpenter stating that the company was to go into "receivership". Today I received a letter from an insolvency practitioner advising me that Carpenter has gone into voluntary insolvency. A brief internet investigation today has revealed that the Carpenter website now shows a "new" company, the (originally entitled) Event Sound & Lighting Ltd., with the same web address, postal address and phone numbers (which direct straight to mobile answerphone). The website is identical to its Carpenter predecessor down to the font of the company name, the only change is the company name and e-mail address. Research has also revealed that Event Sound & Lighting Ltd are registered with Companies House as a new company. If anybody would like any more information (or opinion...) about this, please feel free to PM me. vbm [edited (twice!) for accuracy of new company name] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 May be worth an email to gm@psa.org.uk and watch him go off on one about phoenix companies. This is a major curse in our industry and the more people that know about it the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossmck Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 The gallery on http://www.esl-ltd.eu/gallery/ even references CLES and shows photos of their projects... I've archived the entire website and can send you a copy of need be as I figure they might remove such references shortly but it'd certainly maybe be useful as evidence ;) If you can prove CLES and ESL are the same I'd personally invoice ESL and bring them to court... not 100% sure on the legalities of this but it might make them take notice and you might get a court who agrees with you and grants your claim... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 The gallery on http://www.esl-ltd.eu/gallery/ even references CLES and shows photos of their projects... I've archived the entire website and can send you a copy of need be as I figure they might remove such references shortly but it'd certainly maybe be useful as evidence Evidence of what exactly? If ESL are indeed using the photos of CLES's work then CLES could claim foul on a number of grounds, but the fact that CLES are now gone meansw they are not likely to. It may be interesting to get a copy of the liquidators report, and see just how little the new company paid for the assets of the old... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul TC Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 The gallery on http://www.esl-ltd.eu/gallery/ even references CLES and shows photos of their projects... I've archived the entire website and can send you a copy of need be as I figure they might remove such references shortly but it'd certainly maybe be useful as evidence Evidence of what exactly? If ESL are indeed using the photos of CLES's work then CLES could claim foul on a number of grounds, but the fact that CLES are now gone meansw they are not likely to. or try www.carpenterliveevents.com/ and see where it leads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 or try www.carpenterliveevents.com/ and see where it leads. Unfortunately the URL has probably been bought as an "asset" of the former company along with all the kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlx Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Similar case to vbm about paying outstanding invoices, and never paid !The new company "Event Sound & Lighting" was incorporated on the 25th Jan 2011, and John Carpenter appointed on the same day. Pre planned ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Unfortunately the URL has probably been bought as an "asset" of the former company along with all the kit. I'd speak to the insolvency people and make sure of that if I were you.... The domain name is the legal property of the company but it's one of those things (because it's such low value and a "virtual asset") that people often forget to declare. If it was an asset that wasn't declared and handed over to the liquidator then there's been some rules broken and that's the sort of thing liquidators don't like at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 ...Pre planned ? Believe the modern parlance is `pre packed` :-( http://www.pre-pack-liquidation.cvlhelp.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eventsl Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Alright... I'm very aware of the nervousness of web forums about "libellous" material, so here, for the reference of anybody who might be interested, are a series of (provable) facts. On November 7th last year, I supplied the services of two lighting technicians/operators, and lighting equipment hire including trucking, to Carpenter Live Event Services Ltd for an event at the Park Lane Hilton in London. I agreed in advance with the John Carpenter, the director of the company, the fee for the work and the payment terms, 30 days. I submitted the invoice for the work the day after the job and had a verbal confirmation that the invoice had been received. The last date of the payment terms came and went without payment. Over the next 60 days, I attempted to contact the company by phone and e-mail, with almost no success. On the odd occasion that I was able to speak to John Carpenter, payment promises were made that were not kept. After 60 days (90 days after the event), I submitted a Small Claim in my local County Court to attempt to get paid. This has so far been unsuccessful and I received a letter from Carpenter stating that the company was to go into "receivership". Today I received a letter from an insolvency practitioner advising me that Carpenter has gone into voluntary insolvency. A brief internet investigation today has revealed that the Carpenter website now shows a "new" company, the (originally entitled) Event Sound & Lighting Ltd., with the same web address, postal address and phone numbers (which direct straight to mobile answerphone). The website is identical to its Carpenter predecessor down to the font of the company name, the only change is the company name and e-mail address. Research has also revealed that Event Sound & Lighting Ltd are registered with Companies House as a new company. If anybody would like any more information (or opinion...) about this, please feel free to PM me. vbm [edited (twice!) for accuracy of new company name] Name too close to our own Please do not get confused. I am extremely concerned about the above post, as the name being used by the new company is extremely close to our own. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to point out that we Event Sound & Light Ltd, based in Chelmsford, Essex and established in 2003 have NO connection what-so-ever with "Event Sound & Lighting Ltd", "Carpenter Live Events Services Ltd" or John Carpenter. We have already started receiving phone calls from creditors trying to trace the new company. We are so concerned about this matter that we have today registered a complaint with Companies House about the naming of the new company. Thank you all for your understanding. Nigel HillsDirector Event Sound & Light LtdUnit 2, The Warren EstateLordship RoadWrittleChelmsfordEssexCM1 3WT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave SA Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Sorry to hear that Nigel. Hopefully companies house will see things from your perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazzAV Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Just remember as a creditor, you will have the right to appoint new / joint administrators. If you think he was doing anything against the law..trading while insolvent etc, you can have him and the company investigated. You should try and contact the other creditors, preferably before the creditors meeting and decide if this is something that is worthwhile and something that people have the appetite for. As ever independent advice is always worth seeking. Bear in mind that no matter how much it annoys us, you should refrain from doing anything that could be seen as threatening or embarrassing to the directors of a company that owes you money. I've been here a couple of times and I understand your pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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