One of the directors of a cold-calling business that was fined £500,000 for making nearly 200million unwanted phone calls has been banned from running a business for eight years.
Stephen Foote was a director of Clydebank-based CRDNN Ltd, which made the calls, mostly about windows, conservatories and window scrappage, gathering leads to sell on to Clearwin Limited, a subsidiary of Kairos, owner of Zenith, Weatherseal and other similar brands https://www.the-glazine.com/?p=832 .
His disqualification follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service, which said in its report: “Between June 1 and September 1, 2018, CRDNN instigated automated calls, of which 52,994,243 connected.
“…the Information Commissioner’s Office received at least 2,835 complaints via the online reporting tool …the Telephone Preference Service received at least 388 complaints via the online reporting tool.”
It added that the £500,000 fine – the highest that can be imposed by the ICO – remains unpaid. CRDNN Ltd is in liquidation.
An ICO spokesperson told The Glazine: “Many nuisance call companies fined under Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations go into liquidation. While in some respects a firm going into liquidation marks a frustrating end to our investigations, it’s worth noting that when nuisance call companies go out of business, they stop making calls. And that’s a successful outcome.
“The ICO’s Financial Recovery Unit seeks to recover assets from all companies avoiding fines. This can involve serving statutory demands; obtaining orders for recovery from the courts; and, petitioning for the winding up of companies or bankruptcy of individuals. We actively exercise our rights as a creditor, including nominating insolvency practitioners whose investigations can result in personal claims against directors. We also work closely with the Insolvency Service in cases like this one, to support action to disqualify the worst offenders from running companies in the future.”
Press reports at the time said the was the worst ever case of nuisance calling ever in the UK.
