Misleading publisher wound up

A PUBLISHER which took £1m after making misleading claims about its circulation figures and demanding payment for adverts it never placed, has been wound up following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Rose Garland, based in Heywood, Lancashire, claimed to publish “awareness” booklets covering subjects such as road safety, fire prevention and drug awareness. The company sold advertising space in the booklets to small businesses and organisations throughout the UK between October 2006 and November 2009, and had more than 5,000 customers.

A probe by the Insolvency Service’s Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) found the business had been cold-calling potential advertisers, offering them advertising space based on exaggerated claims about circulation figures.

THE CIB said one customer was told that 250,000 copies of the booklet containing his adverts would be handed out to emergency services staff when only 6,500 copies were printed.

The company aggressively pursued businesses for payment even though no order for advertising had been placed, and sent out a “legal letter” threatening legal proceedings which it had copied from the internet.
 
Despite an absence of complete trading records the investigation found that Rose Garland had taken around £1m from more than 5,000 customers.

CIB Investigations Supervisor Alex Deane said: “This case should act as a reminder to businesses to remain wary of anyone who cold calls, asking potential customers to place advertisements in wall planners, diaries, children’s fund books and other similar publications.”

According to documents filed at Companies House the business had one shareholder, 28-year-old Lee Coyle of Heywood.