Operators urge Companies House to remove suspicious restaurant listings
Restaurant operators are urging Companies House to make thorough checks on registered businesses after a spate of entries appropriating existing operations and their addresses.
Since the start of 2024, at least 72 businesses have appeared on the Companies House register with names that are designed to appear the same as existing restaurant businesses.
Many of the companies set up claim a correspondence address that is the same as the genuine business, causing restaurant operators to fear that fraudulent activity may be credited to them.
Elystan Street Limited is one of 37 businesses set up by Jamie Liam Emery since 13 January 2024. It provides the same correspondence address as Rebecca Mascarenhas and Phil Howard's Michelin-starred Elystan Street restaurant in London.
All company names set up by Emery have a strong likeness to existing businesses and in many cases include the address of the business they resemble. They include Mount Street restaurant, Kitty Fisher's restaurant and Arabica Borough Market.
Mascarenhas told The Caterer: "We can't understand what the end game is and nor can my bank. For us the name is too similar and Companies House need to do something.
"We've had a bank card sent to us and what concerns us most is registering any debt at that address."
Arabica London owner James Walters said he had reported the situation to the police after reciving bank cards in the name of Jamie Liam Emery to his trading address, but had no response.
He added: "We don't understand what use or benefit it is to anyone but it's quite concerning for a business reputation to have businesses almost identical being registered at our trading addresses. We don't know what the end game is but we know it's worrying and it highlights the ease with which you can open a digital bank account.
"Many other operators are experiencing this and nobody is receiving satisfactory responses from Companies House."
The Caterer has spoken to numerous other operators who share Walters' concerns. One is Chantelle Nicholson, whose business is registered at Apricity Initiatives. She was alerted to a listing for Apricity Restaurant Limited, which had been registered by Steven Olayinka Abiola. Abiola has also registered 34 other companies including Siloo London and Spring Restaurant.
Despite writing to the Insolvency Service outlining her concerns, Nicholson received a response explaining that it had "decided not to investigate the company at this time".
The letter added: "We have made this decision based on all the information available to us."
Nicholson said: "I have written back to them and advised that I thought it was pertinent they looked into the person listed as a director, given he opened 35 companies in two days, and all licensed restaurants purporting to be existing ones. Let's see if they respond.
"I would encourage other operators to do so they take notice."
A Companies House spokesperson said the organisation was investigating the issue and would "take action where the law currently allows".
They added: "From this spring, we will have greater powers to query and remove fraudulent information from the companies register and will prioritise cases where addresses have been used without consent.
"We plan to do more checks – including on company names – to determine the accuracy of information which is delivered before it is placed on the register.
"In the longer term we will be requiring company directors and people who file information to verify their identity to ensure they are who they say they are.
"These changes will enable us to crack down on the use of false addresses and other misuse of the register."
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