By Maria Ward-Brennan
Michelin star chef Heston Blumenthal has asked the boss of Companies House and Registrar for “greater transparency” after one of his business was scammed.
It was revealed last week that top chefs and restaurants including Blumenthal were hit by scammers. They used a scam involving creating “clones” of restaurants with Companies House in order to apply for loans and bank accounts and to buy expensive stock from suppliers.
Blumenthal is the owner of several Michelin stars restaurants including three Michelin stars, The Fat Duck, in Berkshire.
He has asked for a faster response in order to help the restaurant industry which is already struggling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the pressures of the economic downturn.
The famous chef has had Peter Moody, principal at City-based legal consultancy, Red Pie Consulting scanning the Companies Register for years to notify Companies House of bogus companies claiming to be to be part of his group.
He explained: “The process for removing fake companies has to be speeded up and made easier. We need greater transparency from Companies House and a clear timeline. In some cases it is being reported it can take up to 18 months to rectify.”
“Checks by Companies House on the identity of people registering companies would reduce the risk of frauds and be a major help for restaurants and other businesses facing up to problems with fraudsters,” he added.
Back in January, the government warned of changes to UK company law under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. The new changes will include new rules for registered office addresses; requirements for all companies to supply a registered email address; and new lawful purpose statements.
At the time, the government said it was aiming to introduce the first set of changes on 4 March.
While last year , the UK government vowed to “use all the tools” at its disposal to crack down on the thousands of overseas companies that have failed to report their beneficial owners with Companies House’s new property register
The government pledged to fine and prosecute the “oligarchs and non-compliant organisations” that missed the deadline to declare their ultimate owners on the newly-launched Register of Overseas Entities.
