What we do

Companies Investigation Branch

What We Do

We assess all complaints made to BERR which are capable of being addressed by our powers (see “What we do not do”) and decide whether or not in our view it is in the public interest to investigate the companies against which they have been made. As part of that process, we may obtain further information from the complainants and carry out our own background research. We do not approach the companies at that stage.
We may decide that there is no basis for an investigation.
HOWEVER, if we are satisfied that there is sufficient ‘good reason’ and that it is in the public interest to do so, we will normally conduct an investigation. The decision to investigate is entirely at our discretion.
If we do not investigate ourselves we may pass the information provided to someone - usually another regulator - who may be in a better position to investigate or act on the concerns you have raised.
The investigations we carry out are fact-finding in nature. They are not criminal investigations as such, although they may nonetheless address conduct which could amount to criminal behaviour. Also, we tend to look at matters in general rather than examining specific breaches of the law. If we do find things that concern us we can take action (see “What Can Happen”).
We do not have to restrict our enquiries solely to what was in the original complaint.
We issue press releases (see extracts below) when follow up action is successfully completed.

Recent “Successes” include the following by way of example:

LAST ORDERS” FOR BOGUS PUB COMPANY

A company which lured over 60 aspiring publicans to part with fees of £4,000 plus in return for training and a placement in a pub of their choice has been wound up following a CIB investigation. In reality, the training was poor and the promised pub often failed to materialise.

‘MR SCUM’ GETS FOUR MORE YEARS AFTER BERR UNCOVERS MASSIVE FRAUD

A bankrupt and disqualified director who preyed on ailing companies and defrauded creditors on a massive scale has been sentenced to four years in prison following a series of CIB investigations. The man dubbed ‘Mr Scum’ by the Daily Mirror, who has had a total of 94 companies wound up by BERR, advertised his services as a 'Business Doctor' offering to help struggling businesses out of trouble.

NET TICKET SITE BUSTED BY BERR

BERR has shut down a ticket agency that provoked anger from many music fans for its high prices and failure to deliver. Customers complained that notwithstanding that they had paid high prices to get into sold-out shows their tickets never turned up causing the company to feature regularly in complaints columns in the press, even earning a slot on the BBC’s Watchdog programme.

UK'S MOST COMPLAINED ABOUT COMPANY

This infamous Edinburgh telesales company scammed British businesses to the tune of over £4 million cold-calling businesses offering to send them reports giving advice and analysis on management and HR issues, generating a record 800 complaints to local Trading Standards offices. The CIB investigators found out that reports were offered on a '21 day free review', but the company did not always make clear to client firms that they would be charged between £295 and £395 if the reports were not returned within the 21 days. The four director team have now been disqualified for a total period of 30 years.

CANCER CURE DIRECTOR DISQUALIFIED

A director of a company who used fear tactics and misleading advertising to sell vulnerable elderly people a 'cure' for prostate cancer has been disqualified from acting as a company director for 10 years following a BERR investigation.

When people responded to the adverts, they were sold a non-drug medicine called Prostectalin even if they had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer by a qualified doctor. The consultants had paid £6,800 to the company for the right to sell the product in return for a commission on each bottle.

Other Information