Manchester publishing company Costello Limited is closed down
A publishing company which made misleading claims to more than 2,000 customers, and demanded payment for services never provided, has been wound up in the High Court following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
Costello Limited, based in Trafford Park, Manchester carried on business nationally selling advertising space in publications and on websites purporting to promote awareness in child safety, road safety and crime prevention.
The enquiry, by the Insolvency Service’s Companies Investigation
Branch (CIB) found that, between February 2008 and July 2009 the
company achieved income in excess of £600,000, from cold-calling
potential advertisers, usually small businesses, and offering them
advertising space based on misleading representations.
The
enquiry also found that there was little or no of commercial benefit to
customers from placing adverts in the publications and that there was
no evidence to support claimed distribution figures. Additionally, the
company pursued its customers for payment in an aggressive, threatening
and intimidating manner in circumstances when it knew or ought to have
known that the a significant number of advertisers either did not want
the advert or had not requested it.
CIB Investigations Supervisor Alex Deane said;
“This
case serves as another reminder to businesses to be wary of anyone who
cold-calls asking potential customers to place advertisements in
wall-planners, diaries, children’s fun books and similar publications.
Anyone who has any doubts or feels that they are being intimidated into
paying for such unsolicited or unwanted advertising should consult the
Insolvency Service website http://www.insolvency.gov.uk and follow the
link to Companies Investigation Branch where there are more details
concerning this type of publishing scam” .
Posted at 07:51PM Feb 15, 2010 by Kelly Board in Insolvency | Comments[0]
