Is This Legal? 2x Registered LTD Co. Only 1 Actual Business!

[H&A]

Could really use some help?

 

Cutting a very long story as short as possible.........

 

My Daughter was discriminated against due to pregnancy

We Went to Court

We Won The Tribunal Unanimously

My Daughter was awarded just shy of

£10,000.00

 

The whole thing from grievance to award took

18 months

 

Obviously the ex employer never had any intention of paying up.

She had continuously throughout the entire struggle made it perfectly clear that she didn't care about the Law and as far as she was concerned she could do what ever the hell she liked...

And that is exactly what she's done!

 

So......

Whilst I was tirelessly preparing all the paper work, including 6 x 280 page Bundles for the hearing, because we couldn't afford a solicitor, so I, had to represent my daughter.

 

Her ex employer was setting up her change of business name, knowing that this, unethical and I believe illegal, yet absolutely doable act, would guarantee she wouldn't have to part with a single penny, whether the court ordered it or not!

 

So she Incorporated and Registered with Companies House, a second Ltd Company, with exactly the same details as her existing Ltd Company but with a slightly different name.

 

knowing that it would all be done and dusted by the time my daughter was legally entitled to send in an enforcement officer to attempt at getting the Award

that a ...Judge!.... and Two Wingmen..... Unanimously agreed she was entitled too!

 

About 6 weeks ago, my daughter had to pay £60

for a High Court Writ! and a HCEO was all ready to go and enforce it

when we discovered that

Companies House had allowed the Striking off of the original company to go ahead even though I had objected to this, in plenty of time along with my reasons and provided ample proof of my findings....

ie copied documents obtained from their own website check.

 

Right, instead of me trying to explain how they crossed over the two ltd Co's

and never stopped trading etc.....

I have copied and pasted the info I obtained from

Companies House Webcheck on both of the Ltd Co's

(I'm probably confusing you now but hopefully, you will see exactly what I'm on about when you check this out!

 

Please note in particular the dates involved....

BOTH COMPANIES ARE THE SAME ONE!

They have identical credentials the only thing that's changed

is The NAME of the CO.

 

1.================================================

Name & Registered Office:

** RETAIL SOLUTIONS LIMITED

5 *HE* ****I*S

*A**WOO**

*O*I***A*

N*1* 3*T

 

Company No. 0*00**1

Date of Incorporation: 26/03/2012

Date of Notice to be

Struck off: 21/04/2015

Date Dissolved: 04/08/2015

 

2.=============================================

Name & Registered Office:

*** RETAIL LIMITED

5 *HE* ****I*S

*A**WOO**

*O*I***A*

N*1* 3*T

 

Company No. 02**371

Date of Incorporation: 18/09/2014

Status: CURRENT

 

===============================================

 

Same Franchise.

Same Stock.

Same Staff.

Same Premises.

Same Company Directors.

Same Registered Address.

OPENS 7 DAYS A WEEK and has never missed a single days trading!

 

Is this Legal??.......

Can they still strike off the original Ltd Co, if they have not only, continuously traded and still are as the original business, without a 3 month gap

but they have also whilst still trading as one company, are actually registered as two separate companies trading at the same address at the same time!

 

Can they get away with this?

If not, How and Who, do I report this too?...

 

I've just copied and pasted both reports but I've sort of blotted out the Identifying Details for obvious reasons...

 

If anyone is able to advise we'd be very thankful

[Guest]

interesting.

it looks like maybe they wound up before you enforced, so leaving you as a creditor of the original (now bankrupt/defunct) company?

see what the guys say.

[becky2585]

Unfortunately it's very common practice to avoid having to make significant payouts. It absolutely stinks but it's usually legal.

 

Can you consult with an insolvency lawyer for some further advice?

[Guest topcat14]

You do not state if the company was wound up through bankruptcy or voluntary ... may be worth finding out ?

 

Usually if you are not registered as a creditor with the bankrupt/wound up company, and are therefore not invited to the creditors meeting to ratfiy/argue for your pennies in the pound, there is not much you can do im afraid.

 

You should attempt to find out who the insolvency practioner was that submitted the winding up order to the courts and plead your case.

 

The owner must have had a good reason to dissolve the business, not withstanding your situation as there is alot of paperwork and hoops to go through and it should not be too difficult to find the paper trail.

[Conniff]

It probably wasn't insolvency. Anyone can wind up their business for any reason.

[H&A]

They didn't do any of those things,

I'm reliably informed that they just carried on trading, using the same accounts, stock, staff, premises etc.

I know that , they bought the business and premises etc as a job lot, for want of a better word, including the finance for this from a Franchise.

 

So basically the only thing thats changed is the name of the limited company that are T/a ****-**** , when they purchased this franchise they did so using ** Retail Limited T/a ****-***** and now they are *** Retail T/a *****-*** if that makes any sense!

[Guest topcat14]

They didn't do any of those things,

I'm reliably informed that they just carried on trading, using the same accounts, stock, staff, premises etc.

I know that , they bought the business and premises etc as a job lot, for want of a better word, including the finance for this from a Franchise.

 

So basically the only thing thats changed is the name of the limited company that are T/a ****-**** , when they purchased this franchise they did so using ** Retail Limited T/a ****-***** and now they are *** Retail T/a *****-*** if that makes any sense!

 

You say the original company is dissolved at companies house and that requires legal intervention.

 

I wonder if you could apply to a court to seek a redetermination of the judgement you hold but now cannot enforce?

[ericsbrother]

the exact dates of the transfer of assets is the critical thing here, if they were after your judgement then you can get enforcement agianst the directors in a personal capacity but if they shifted everything before and then ceased trading they are basically home and dry unless you made the tribunal aware of their furtiveness and they then failed to say anything. You need proper legal advice on where to go next as it will be expensive to get it wrong.

[numbers666]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/company-strike-off-dissolution-and-restoration/strike-off-dissolution-and-restoration-gp4

 

Restoration is the route. Also as an interested party subject to legal proceedings they committed an offense by striking off and not informing you within 7 days of application to do so..

 

Good luck. Stick it to them.

[Guest]

h&a

any thoughts/info re recent posts?

[steampowered]

I would suggest that you bring a county court claim against both the individual director responsible and the new limited company. You can start the process by writing a 'letter before claim'. We can help you with that.

 

The basis of your claim would be that the transfer of the assets/business of company 1 into company 2 was a transaction defrauding creditors contrary to section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Have a read of the legislation here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/45/section/423.

 

You would need to prove that the purpose of the company restructuring was to frustrate your rights as a creditor of company 1. I can't imagine this would be difficult if you are able to prove that the franchise/stock/premises are the same.

 

You need to go on the Companies House website and look up the original company here: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/help/welcome. This should allow you to get a copy of the filings this director would have lodged with Companies House. If the director used a voluntary striking-off there should be a copy of form DS01. This form clearly reminds the director of their responsibilities and the requirement to notify creditors. This form will have been signed by the director. This form will obviously be helpful in demonstrating that this was a sham transaction if the rules clearly stated on the form have been ignored.

 

It sounds like this company was removed from the register via what is called a voluntary striking-off, and not through any formal insolvency procedure such as liquidation or administration. In this case it is likely that the director responsible has committed a criminal offence under s1044 of the Companies Act which prohibits a striking-off application being made if the company has traded in the last 3 months. It is also likely that the director responsible has committed a criminal offence under s1006 off the Companies Act which requires creditors to be notified in advance of a striking-off application . You can read about that here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/contents.

 

The fact that the director has committed criminal offences does not help you get the 10k back directly. It does mean that you should report him/her to the Insolvency Service. The Insolvency Service can move to have this person disqualified from acting as the director of a company in future. You can read about that here: https://www.gov.uk/company-director-disqualification.

 

Have a read of http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?449357-Ltd-Building-Co-Fraudulent-activity-walked-off-job-amp-Director-put-funds-into-own-bank-account. This person encountered a similar issue.

[steampowered]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/company-strike-off-dissolution-and-restoration/strike-off-dissolution-and-restoration-gp4

 

Restoration is the route. Also as an interested party subject to legal proceedings they committed an offense by striking off and not informing you within 7 days of application to do so..

 

Good luck. Stick it to them.

 

Restoration is very helpful in principle. But it can be a bit difficult in practice. The problem is that, even if company 1 has been restored to the register, its assets will still have transferred to company 2, and so the restored company will just be a shell.

 

The normal reason for doing a restoration is to have a liquidator appointed. This is because liquidators have the ability to bring a number of claims against former director company directors. For example, a claim for wrongful trading or a claim to reverse a transaction made at an undervalue. These claims cannot be brought by general creditors.

 

The liquidator must be an insolvency practitioner and will expect their fees to be paid. I don't think it will be viable for the op to have a liquidator appointed for a claim worth 10k.