Well, here we are again. And why are we here again? Because there have been further developments, that’s why. Some of them encouraging developments.
In addition, I’ve been doing a bit more thinking. Standing back, as it were, trying to take in the big picture, because what confronts us is designed to mislead and confuse. With companies forming and constantly changing names, addresses and directors. People taking out mortgages to buy property from themselves. Buy-outs that are probably nothing of the kind. And a web of lies designed to hide what’s really happening.
All made easier by the gullibility of politicians and media over a wide area and for a considerable period of time.
Fortunately, the fog is clearing.
If you’re new to this saga then to help you better understand what follows, I suggest you read Weep for Wales, Weep for Wales 2, Weep for Wales 3 and Weep for Wales 4.
◊
NEWS FROM THE NORTH
There’s little official news but snippets continue to reach my penthouse office at Jac o’ the North Towers about how the Williams Gang operates.
The former head chef at the Seiont Manor Hotel was able to provide me with more information on the curious payment arrangements. In his case, pay slips reading £500 every month but much larger amounts – the agreed salary – actually going into his bank account.
He was also able to give me bank details for the source of the money. I won’t use that information here but any official agency interested in seeing the information is welcome to contact me. The head chef and his team were constructively dismissed in order to provide work for chefs moving up from the now closed Radnorshire Arms in Presteigne and the Castle Inn in Wigmore. Other staff were also elbowed out.
UPDATE 09.07.2018: After discussing it with the man concerned I have decided to release copies of the relevant documents. They’re not perfect pictures but they show payslips for March and May this year, with no PAYE or NI paid, and showing net pay of £500, with the corresponding bank entries for those months showing £1,973.00. Click here.
It seems that the Williams Gang likes to have ‘loyalists’ on the books . . . or should that be ‘off the books’? Whatever, another loyalist is the handyman, a local who’s made comments to my Facebook page, some of which he’s deleted. To believe Noel Jordan of Penygroes Wales couldn’t manage without people like Paul, Rowena, Rikki and the gang because we Welsh are too stupid to do things for ourselves. Speak for yourself, Noel.
Though Noel has stopped defending Team Williams, perhaps because it’s finally penetrated even his thick skull that they’re crooks. Now he attacks me for my FWA connections and my political stance, previously unknown facts he’s gleaned from – Phil Parry at The Eye. Well, laff!!
Something else the former head chef told me was that Rikki Reynolds, running Seiont Manor for Paul and Rowena Williams, doesn’t seem much concerned if the business makes money or not. Which I suggest confirms my theory – what’s important is the buildings and the money that can be raised on them or channelled through them, the businesses in those buildings are dispensable, as are the people working in them.
This explains why businesses in buildings owned by Paul and Rowena Williams just limp along or close.
So unconcerned is Rikki Reynolds about the state of the Seiont Manor Hotel that I’m told old furniture, televisions, fryers, and other junk litters the grounds, and the interior’s not a lot better.
And if anything goes wrong you’d better try to fix it yourself because no local tradesman will answer the call until he gets pad for his previous visits. (Thank God for trusty, forelock-tugging Noel!) Bailiffs and others looking for money are regular visitors to Seiont Manor. Though come to that, they’re regular visitors to every Williams’ property.
UPDATE 09.07.2018: Here’s an example of an unpaid bill at Seiont Manor. One of thousands.
Before leaving the north let’s make a quick visit to Plas Glynllifon.
Someone sent me the picture below, which I’m afraid is not perfect, but still . . . it shows the small lake in the grounds of Plas Glynllifon with a sign reading ‘Beware of Sharks’ above a picture of Paul and Rowena Williams. I’m told that the hand behind the sign, reaching up, represents a creditor.
◊
ANOTHER TRIP TO CORNWALL
On our previous visits to Cernyw we have concentrated on Polvellan House or Manor in West Looe, now we’re going to the community of Seaton, a couple of miles along the coast towards Plymouth.
Like a bundle of other properties this is owned by Leisure & Development Ltd, the company we’re told was sold on 1 February this year to Keith Harvey Partridge, though Paul Williams remains a director.
The property owned in Seaton is listed on this Land Registry title document as The Pavilion, though it’s now known as the Waves Bar. Confusingly, it is also known as The Courtyard according to this Charge from 2016 referring to the purchase by Leisure & Development. It’s definitely the same place because it has the same LR title number. So why three names?
Whatever it’s called Leisure & Development paid almost two million pounds for it on 1 February 2016, which sounds rather high. But if it follows the pattern we found elsewhere then Paul and/or Rowena Williams already owned the place and sold it to themselves at an inflated price in order to get the mortgage money.
Another mortgage or loan was taken out 10 May this year with Together Commercial Finance Ltd of Cheadle, after the alleged sale to Partridge. Which might be taken as evidence of the sale.
Despite having sold the Courtyard/Pavilion/Waves Bar Rowena Williams still has a soft spot for the place, to judge by her Facebook page. Though little else is being posted nowadays.
But the reason we’re in Seaton is because someone assures me that the manager of the Waves Bar, Stuart Cooper, is this Stuart Paul Cooper.
If Cooper the Waves Bar manager is indeed the same man referred to in the article, then that gives us three convicted fraudsters doing business with Paul and Rowena Williams. There’s Keith Partridge, then there’s John Duggan, their accountant, who featured in the previous post, and now Stuart Cooper.
This is no coincidence.
Finally, for those taken in by the Open Days at Glynllifon last month, someone in Cornwall tells me that the same stunt was pulled down there with Polvellan Manor. Now described as one of Cornwall’s most at risk houses.
UPDATE: Soon after putting this piece up I was directed to information relating to the Waves Bar. This information tells us that Cooper threatens to burn down people’s houses with them inside. Paul Williams thinks Cooper is a splendid fellow and defended him to the hilt when Devon and Cornwall Police tried to close down the Waves Bar.
If you want insights into the character of Paul Williams, the kind of people he employs, the way he runs his businesses, and his contempt for all authority, then it’s all here. Just scroll down to the section on Waves Bar. It’ll take a while to read it all, but believe me, it’s worth it.
UPDATE 09.07.2018: Here’s another worrying insight from Cornwall into Paul Williams’ modus operandi.
◊
THE POWYS FRONT
Where it’s hats off to Mid Wales Journal reporter Karen Compton. We seem to have finally found a journalist who isn’t content with being spoon-fed the Williams’ lies. By comparison, the Daily Post has churned out one puff after another that could have been – and probably were – dictated by Paul and Rowena Williams.
Congratulations to Ms Compton also for recognising that the ‘sale’ of the properties to Keith Partridge may be no more than a transfer of shares, just smoke and mirrors.
The Mid Wales Journal report states that the hotels owned by Paul and Rowena Williams – via Leisure & Development Ltd – were sold to “Keith Partridge of Coast 2 Coast Limited”.
There appear to be four companies answering to that name with which Partridge is involved: Coast 2 Coast Resorts Ltd; Coast2Coast Land Ltd; Coast2Coast Shores Ltd; Coast 2 Coast Developments Ltd. (Why no Coast 2 Coast Coasts Ltd?) Though Sukhbinder Singh Heer, who also joined Leisure & Development Ltd on the same day as Partridge, has no involvement with any of them. So how does he fit in?
Then there’s the Charge taken on against Leisure & Development Ltd, with shady lender Together Commercial Finance Ltd after the Partridge takeover, this is the Charge we looked at in connection with the Waves Bar in Seaton.
If this Charge explains how the purchase was funded then we are asked to believe that Partridge raised ten million pounds to buy these properties, at what must be crippling rates given his criminal record and the reputation of the lender . . . then he leaves a number of them empty!
As I’ve consistently suggested, the alleged sale of these properties to Keith Partridge was a subterfuge; done partly to take the heat off Paul and Rowena Williams, and partly to raise more money. Which explains why the Mid Wales Journal found it so difficult to contact any of them.
◊
GRANTS
The Mid Wales Journal headline reads, ‘Assembly Acts Over Shut Hotels’, which I’m not sure is correct. What the report actually says is that the Assembly is looking into whether any public funding paid to the Knighton Hotel and the Radnorshire Arms Hotel can be recouped. Which to me looks a long way short of action.
We have since learnt from Kirsty Williams AM that under the Tourism Investment Support Scheme the Knighton Hotel received £254,200 and the Radnorshire Arms £170,000. This, remember, is just one funding stream, for it’s suggested that these two establishments received more than the figures just quoted.
What I find most disturbing in this aspect of the affair is the admission by the Minister responsible (a certain Dafydd Elis Thomas), ” . . . the applicant (Mr & Mrs Paul and Rowena Williams) failed to provide final post completion information despite numerous requests to do so”.
So Paul and Rowena Williams trousered £424,200, then refused to confirm that it had been spent properly, or at all; yet the ‘Welsh’ Government couldn’t be bothered to send a pith-helmeted expedition into darkest Powys to check. The conscientious civil servants handling our money just shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘Nah, sod it!’.
As I’ve mentioned, I have a FoI request with the ‘Welsh’ Government asking about grants to the Williams Gang and their properties. I got a reply asking me to stipulate which grants I was enquiring about, presumably in the hope I’d screw up and ask about grants for growing rape seed. But should I need to be so specific?
Are we to believe that there is no central reference for grant funding? That it’s impossible to type ‘Knighton Hotel’ or ‘Paul Steven Williams’ into a shared database and not be told how much grant funding they’ve received? There used to a website called Transparent Wales(?) that provided this information at the click of a mouse, what happened to it?
◊
A PLACE IN THE SUN
We’ve already encountered Paul Williams’ sister Debra Yvonne Oswald, who seems to have jetted about the world a bit, and may occasionally be found in Goa. ‘Goa!’, you cry, ‘Goa!’. Yes indeedy, the former Portuguese colony, now a state of India, destination for hippies and all manner of interesting characters.
But Debs is no hippy, she’s a businesswoman, and she has a company in Goa, Pleasant Time Guest Houses Private Ltd. though it looks like another of those companies that’s never done anything. Formed in November 2007 it held its last AGM 30 September 2014 and is currently lined up for strike off.
The other directors are Debra’s husband, her (and Paul’s) parents, and a Peter d’Souza, probably a local lawyer.
Why would the Williams family want to start a company in a place notorious for being a gangsters’ paradise, where Nigerian, Russian and Israeli gangsters launder their money and do their deals? And with India being a country from which it’s notoriously difficult to extradite anyone to the UK.
◊
TIME TO CLOSE THE TRAP
At the risk of repeating myself . . .
We have here a gang involved in some kind of financial crime. It could be mortgage fraud, it could be money laundering, it could be both. To which can be added a host of lesser offences, among them the non-payment of income tax and national insurance, or damaging a listed building . . .
A combination of sunshine, Argie red and digging into the antics of these crooks is making my brain boil. I’ve written over ten thousand words on these shysters – I need a break. So unless startlingly fresh information comes in I shall hold back on the Williams Gang until I write a more general update.
That said, there is now enough information in the public domain to justify action from the police, HMRC, the ‘Welsh’ Government, and a number of local authorities and other bodies.
I would suggest that this action be taken sooner rather than later. I say that because Paul and Rowena Williams must know the game is up, and so it would be reasonable to assume that they’re looking for a way out. They can’t go back, and there’s no way forward, so they’ve got to slip out through a side door.
They have enough money to go anywhere. So unless they’re pulled in pronto Paul Williams might soon be sunning himself on Calangute Beach in Goa, next to Sergei ‘Skullcrusher’ Ivanov, feared enforcer for the St Petersburg mob.
We’ve done enough weeping for Wales, let’s start doing something positive!
♦ end ♦
Gwynedd Council Planning Department have a statutory obligation under planning law to protect Plas Glynllifon and its surrounding curtilage from alterations,change of use internally or externally as it is a Grade 2 star listed building.From my observations of the building internally and its surrounding grounds criminal alterations appear to have been made without permission by Gwynedd Council Conservation officers.A Freedom of Information request will reveal the true position of the lack of criminal proceedings been instigated without delay by Gwynedd Council.I think the time has come to involve the Welsh Ombudsman to get Gwynedd Council to meet their obligation under the law.
I wouldn’t bother with the Ombudsman, his name is Nick Bennett and he was former CEO of Community Housing Cymru, the umbrella group for housing associations. He’s part of the machine.
Have had a very wish-washy reply from Gwynedd’s Planners. I replied saying I am in contact with CADW, but whether that organisation have any more gumption remains to be seen.
But, concerning the “lost” £805,000, didn’t the two public authorities who shelled out to the Indian couple first check that planning permission for the works being financed was in place. I don’t recall any planning approvals being given when the Plas had a restaurant there and hosted wedding receptions for a short while before the couple headed back to Manchester.
Was there a case of maladministration involved with the lost £805k?
In spite of my writing to Gwynedd’s Planners, concerning Planning applications to change the use of a Grade One listed building, and carry out works to both building and grounds, ie Plas Glynllifon, I have not been given the courtesy of a reply.
However, my extremely conscientious local councillor has confirmed today that no such permissions have been sought or granted. Paul and Rowena Williams are therefore in breach of the law of the land.
What are Cyngor Gwynedd going to do about this??
And if I were to write a letter to the Editor of the Daily Post on the subject, would he deem to print it??
Seems to be a case of “egg on faces” big time.
Please explain.
The Editor has not deemed to print my last letter, which warned the residents of Presteigne and Knighton not to expect too much of Keith Partridge, and pointed out his criminal history. Also that the Gwesty Seiont Manor Ltd had not published its 2016/7 accounts by the due date, in breach of Company law.
I think he’s getting a bit tired of me now!
It’s sometimes difficult to make one’s voice heard, especiallywhen some people don’t want to listen.
Same thing with the lack of planning permissions. Silence from Cyngor Gwynedd.
I suspect that Gwesty Seiont Manor Ltd is being allowed to die in favour of Seiont Manor Hotel Ltd.
Here’s my gaze into the future. Our Paul is going to say that the costs at Glynllifon are escalating, so to finance this, he’s selling the Seiont Manor to -guess…..Coast to Coast, and our old friend Keith Partridge. The new owner will say that the hotel will have to shut temporarily for refurbishment works, and the staff can apply for their old jobs back some time in the future. Sound familiar to you, readers?
Jac, Mid Wales Journal leads with the Coast2Coast sob story of welsh peasants not liking what they planned so looked up to see what they claim to “do” for a business and surprise, up pops Michael Adrian Jones as a director for Coast2Coast Resorts Ltd, resigned in April 2018! Address is Much Wenlock. But that still doesn’t really answer your question of who is he?
I’m told Much Wenlock might be where Partridge now lives, so there is assumed to be a connection.
Has George Soros been funding political demonstrations in Cardiff?…..
https://mrorigamidotorg.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/has-george-soros-been-funding-political-demonstrations-in-cardiff/
Maybe our MP is in an awkward situation now as I ‘ m sure he was one of the many V I Ps invited to the Champagne reception held at Glynllifon on the evening of the open days.All the crooks were there and no doubt lots of promises given after many glasses of Moet &Chandon!
You know the drill – if the mainstream media and the papers refuse to report these things, and the politicians fail in their job to pick up on it – on behalf of their constituents, then we side-step them all, and Ein Gwlad starts a social media blitz, AND highlights the fact that those who should report on it get exposed in the process.
Surely the Welsh Government grant of £805,000 to the previous owners is the stuff of national disgrace of the Welsh Government and worthy of the lead story in the Daily Post.Think what £805,00 could have done for the NHS in Wales.Wake up Welsh Politicians ,you are paid to do a job for the Welsh taxpayers your employers,Get a grip of what you are paid good money to do and look after our interests.If the going gets too tough it is time to get out and make way for new people who can protect our nation against these crooks and scammers..
To be fair, £805,000 wouldn’t go very far in terms of NHS spending, which is measured in the billions of pounds. This kind of argument is often used in an attempt to denigrate spending on things like the Welsh language, or any other government spending that incurs the displeasure of the person making the argument.
However, small potatoes it might be, but even so, it would have been far better spent on improving the homes of Welsh people, maybe subsidising the installation of solar panels on social housing, which would not only help to reduce the energy bills of some of the most marginalised in Welsh society, but would also help reduce the national carbon footprint, and also, potentially, create an income stream once power generation is properly under the control of the Welsh people.
I think that the whole policy regarding government development grants needs to be thoroughly overhauled, and schemes aimed at bolstering the tourism industry particulalry scrutinised subject to extremely critical appraisal, and approval given only in cases where Welsh workers derive the substantial benefit. On the whole I think that investment in the Welsh economy needs to shift away from tourism/leisure and concentrate more on investment in small scale high tech, and in things like encouraging local groups to get involved in improving their own internet accessibility, such as the people of Michaelston y Fedw did
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/village-slow-broadband-installed-fibre-14832714
In schemes such as these, sums like the one mentioned above would make a huge difference, and would over time repay themselves in terms of increased tax take as the local economy expanding as a result of greater connectivity. Schemes like this would also put communications genuinely in the hands of local people for the benefit of the local economy. Similar ideas could be expanded to energy generation, such as small scale hydro, a much more viable and sustainable means of power generation than the seemingly ubiquitous windfarms that blight our landscape, as well as delivering questionable economics. They do of course, offer a ‘quick fix’ in terms of reducing CO2 output, but I question the economics and the environmental impacts as they require substantial roads to be built and a lot of concrete to be poured, both of which have considerable embedded energy considerations, plus the costs of long term maintenance and replacement have not been adequately addressed.
One of the effects of ‘throwing money’ at such ventures, even if it is of good intention, is that it sterilises whole areas in Wales from genuine private investment.
Start-ups and renovations have risk. If one establishment in an area have these risks immunised by a grant, then other private investments into that area also have their risks amplified.
Why would Hyatt or Radisson do a risky invest in a hotel if just up the road is Hotel Brummie with a grant?
Ireland solved this dilemma with a lower VAT rate for ALL hotels, qualified by footfall, so it’s not possible to just close and do a runner, like at the Radnorshire. Any runners are hunted down by the taxman and invoiced for the difference. Failure to pay this then risks imprisonment.
The Daily Post has sucked up to this gang of crooks for far too long.As a Daily Post reader for the last 50 years it is now time the Editor gets a grip of this scandal for the sake of the papers loyal readers many of whom are pensioners like myself who have always worked hard all our lives and honestly always paid our taxes.The editor has a duty to his readership so lets see the Daily Post stop sucking up to this gang who are a national insult to our Welsh Nation.
Exactly. If the Daily Post wants to genuinely represent its readers’ interests, and those of the area, it will start asking the awkward questions of Paul and Rowena Williams.
Still total silence from our local MP. Is he on holiday?
I suspect Plaid Cymru is adopting the ‘Nothing to do with us’ line to the point of being reluctant to say anything.
Somehow Paul and Rowena Williams got involved after the previous owners’ firm went into liquidation. I’d love to know whether they found their own way to Caernarfon or whether someone directed them.
In all fairness, Jac, our local AS is fully aware of developments, and I have every confidence in her.
Possibly, but I don’t recall her saying much.
Following the Daily Post article today, I’ve written a “letter to the editor”. I wonder if he’ll publish it??
You could be the devil himself and you’d have more chance of being published than I have.
No letter in Monday’s Daily Post.
Went birdwatching in Parc Glynllifon yesterday.The binoculars came in very handy for peering through the metal barriers.One builders van on site- D.M. Edmonds.They are from Redcar in Clevland,over230 miles away ,along way to come to work but the Williamses have a business in nearby Berwick upon Tweed known as The Salutation Inn and Holiday Park hence the link with this builder.Not many interesting birds but ther was two magpies-they are the ones who are good at stealing.
The Welsh Twitcher.
Have you seen page 6 of Thursday’s Daily Post, Jac? I think the dam is starting to burst.
I have not. I’m going into Tywyn this afternoon, I’ll get it.
The Daily Post has a lot of making up to do after one uncritical piece after another. They acted as a mouthpiece for these crooks.
I’ve read it now. I suppose we should be thankful for small mercies, because up until now the Daily Post has published one uncritical puff after another. That said, even when it starts focusing on the truth it gets it wrong. The Knighton Hotel actually received £254,200, not the £75,000 quoted by the Daily Post.
About as accurate as your journalism.
Tell me what I’ve got wrong, Paul.
Attempting to find the charge against land in Presteigne that I previously spotted during this saga I made a timeline for Polvellan Manor Ltd and it seems that Debra was a sole director from 7.3.2015 to 1.11.2016 and her address is Plas Glynllifon. Sorry if I’ve lost the plot along the way but what was the Gang’s connection to Glynllifon before their company purchased it in 2016?
I’m not sure of any connection with Glynllifon before that date.
But the answer to your questions – and indeed to the meaning of life itself – is to found in this document I’ve compiled, if only we can find it.
After compiling this file my first big question was: how did they acquire the properties shown in that first and very curious Charge on the chattels in those properties listed? Clearly they owned them but there are no charges against the only company they had at that stage, Rural Retreats & Leisure Ltd.
Which suggests to me that either they were gifted those properties; they were bought using a company or entity of which we are unaware; or they were bought with cash, which might take us into a whole new ball game.
Give it some thought, because the answers are in there.
The previous owners the Indian couple who have been seen near the lodges at the entrance got a grant from the Welsh Government of £805,00 and a loan from Gwynedd Council of £179,750 towards doing up the mansion.I got this info from Gwynedd Council under FoI.When they went into liquidation all was lost to the Welsh taxpayers.Glynllifon is a money tree for grants and loans sadly leaving our public servants out of their depths.
It appears that the Glynllifon Guerrillas have been active again in the Park. Took a photo of their handiwork for you, Jac. It’s on an email.
More on Cornwall that needs exploring. The Williams bought West Hill cottage in Looe for £135,000 and also bought a plot of land on Hessenford Road in Seaton for £65,000.
They have demolished West Hill cottage and been refused permission to rebuild it.
The land has an Environment Agency protection order on it and can’t be built on.
I know £200,000 is not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but why throw that money away?
I am currently drawing up a document that lists all the Charges found on the Companies House website against their various companies, when it’s complete I shall send you a copy. As might be expected, it shows multiple mortgages with different lenders against the same properties.
Here is a list of the properties in Cornwall, the bad news for you is that there are three plots on Hessenford Road: Polvellan House, Looe, CL156841; Westhill Cottage, Looe, CL290075; Land adjoining Eliza Cottage, Looe, CL309686; Land on E side of Hessenford Road, Seaton, CL174857; Land on E side of Hessenford Road, Seaton, CL171281; Land at Hessenford Road, Seaton, CL289675; The Pavilion, Seaton, CL30726
An earlier Charge against the chattels at various properties was owed to Paul Williams’ sister Debra Oswald. It mentions “Seaton Pavilions Flats 1 to 7 including Crow’s Nest”.
That debenture has an interesting back story. It was a device employed to try to prevent me from seizing assets in lieu of a debt. It implies Debra Oswald was awash with cash, and that too has an interesting back story, involving our friend John Duggan.
I have seen the debenture and bill of sale before but didn’t realise they had gone so far as to charge them to Rural Retreats.
On the Hessenford Road thing, there was one plot, but that might consist of 3 parcels.
I’m also trying to track down the owner of Eliza Cottage for an update.
Did someone mention Phil Parry!………..
https://llanddewibrefigazette.wordpress.com/2018/07/10/we-have-our-own-ngo-in-wales-it-is-called-the-people-of-wales/
What we need to piss off Phil Parry off is an alternative news site for the people of Wales.
Just something modest like The Witicha Eagle would be a start…
https://www.kansas.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article214641195.html
It could be called the: ” The Welsh Eagle” or “The Welsh White Eagle” or “The Snowdon Eagle.”
I am sure a news site like that would take off in a big way in Wales. We so need a patriotic paper for our country.
The people of Wales need to know what is going on in the world and not just be spoon fed by the UK biased MSM. It would be nice to know what is really going on in Wales, e.g….. the level of corruption in Wales since Welsh Labour took control of Wales’ destiny.
Independent Welsh media and an Independent Wales!
Well they should print this in the The Welsh Eagle. I bet the Welsh media won’t go with this news.
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/politics/29716-croatian-government-meets-all-ministers-in-football-shirts
WHY DIDN’T WELSH MINISTERS MEET IN FOOTBALL SHIRTS WHEN WE WERE IN THE SEMI’S OF THE EURO 2016?
TOO UNBRITISH, DIDN’T WANT TO UPSET THE ENGLISH WITH THAT HIDEOUS THING CALLED WELSH NATIONALISM. GOOD GOD IT MIGHT GIVE TO THOSE NASTY POPULIST NATIONALISTS AN IDEA OF BREAKING OFF THE YOLK OF WESTMINSTER AND THE ENGLISH AND ASKING FOR INDEPENDENCE. NOW THAT WOULD GIVE THE CAREER POLITICIANS IN THE ASSEMBLY A HARD TIME WOULDN’T IT.
I have written twice to Nat West and Together Commercial Finance to alert them to the breaches in their lending terms and calibre of borrower. Whilst holding little hope of any response from Together I was surprised by the disinterest from Nat West. The address I used was the one that appears on the Radnorshire Arms deeds 03.08.2015 where they are described as proprietor with first charge, Nat West Bank PLC, Credit Documentation Department, 8th Floor, 1 Hardman Boulevard, Manchester M3 3AQ. I now feel it time for any concerned follower to draw the antics, so ably recorded by Jac to the Nat West CEO who is Mr. Ross Maxwell McEwan, B.B.S. the Group Chief Executive Officer of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Group Chief Executive Officer of Nat West Markets Plc (formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland Plc). also Chief Executive Officer of National Westminster Bank plc.
Given his generous salary the very least that he can do is look into this matter, a few £ million may be nothing to Nat West but the bad publicity and financial services shining a light on due diligence may not be so welcome-come on Mr Mc Ewan earn your money and pull the plug!
I’m sure that he is dying to hear from you at
Email Ross.McEwan@rbs.com
Telephone 0131 556 8555
Switchboard 0131 556 8555
Fax 013 1557 6140
Website http://www.rbs.co.uk
Postal Address 36 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2YBM
Corporate Headquarters 175 Glasgow Road Edinburgh, — EH12 1HQ
could we talk off the record please as i have important info you may find interesting but I cannot give me details openly here but thank god for you is all i can say and that prick Noel is known locally as a drunk who will do anything for money. Nobody likes him in his village and if you see him in a pub then phone the cops as he regularly drinks well over the limit and drives. Leave me a message to call if you dont get an answer as I have used another number as mine is quite well known. Its important you call thanks. put false email address sorry
I’m sure Noel is a local character but I’m not really interested in him, I want the big fish.
I’ll try to ring tomorrow.
People of prestigne we that sick of the state of the Radnorshire arms, they tidied up themselves, knighton hotel not looking too bad, but same will need to be done if it starts looking scruffy
Dorothy Jones
Everyone was suspicious of this couple and wondered how anybody could find this amount of money. Some thought they had won the Euro lottery but now we are getting the truth. Let’s hope the proper authorities will step in and take the correct action before more public money is thrown in their direction
I notice some intriguing information about Paul Williams on his CV he has uploaded to Linkedin.
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/paulwilliamsleisdev
Firstly, he claims to have been MD of Rural Retreats &Leisure Ltd since 1999, however, this company was not incorporated until 2015.
He claims to have been a Senior Facilities Manager for Royal Mail from the 1990s until 2004, reporting to the board of directors and working with clients such as Balfour Beatty. This throws up a series of anomalies.
Firstly, Royal Mail was not (golden share) privatised until 2002, incorporated as a Plc and having a board of directors. This was when it went through a disastrous ‘Consignia’ phase.
Secondly, the legacy real estate from that time was actually administered by a separate entity called Romec Ltd. It became necessary to do this arising from the monopoly legislation. Romec was established as 50/50 owned by Royal Mail and Balfour Beatty to conduct this task. Strangely, he does not state he worked for them.
It should be noted there were some ‘short selling’ and Health and Safety scandals involving Romec during this period. Legacy property owned by Royal Mail, mainly rail-side sorting depots that were allegedly sold off at significantly less than their market value (when logistics switched from rail to road) and these property disposals went via ‘secret’ third parties to housing and other private developers.
Perhaps there’s a genuine reason why he did not mention Romec, and perhaps there’s a genuine reason why from 2004 and 2015 there is, in reality, a gap in his career?
So typically vague. Everything about them seems designed to confuse and mislead.
As you say, Brychan, the company is not called Leisure and Developments Ltd but Leisure & Development Ltd, and it wasn’t incorporated until 19.01.2015. Though there was an earlier company, set up 09.07.2002. Originally called Mortimers Cross Inn Ltd it became Rural Retreats & Leisure Ltd and finally Polvellan Manor Ltd. This company was launched soon after Paul and Rowena Williams bought the Mortimers Cross Inn near Leominster.
After the change of name from Rural Retreats & Leisure Ltd to Polvellan Manor Ltd a new company was set up – Rural Retreats & Leisure UK Ltd. Why set up a new company with a name almost exactly the same as one of your old companies?
Paul Williams’ Linkedin profile claims that he is managing director of Leisure and Developments yet Leisure & Development Ltd was supposedly sold to fraudster Keith Partridge on February 1st this year. This resulted in the closure of the Radnorshire Arms in Presteigne and the Knighton Hotel. It was this stupid move that annoyed local people and started the ball rolling that will surely end in arrests.
Nothing these people say can be believed. They are crooks and accomplished liars.
Ive Emailed the local MP today to tell him that someone should take the lead to bring these people to book. And that person should be himself. He should have the necessary clout. We can only wait and see!
Brychan: An employer who pays weekly or monthly is obliged to make the appropriate PAYE/NI/Pension deductions each month, and account for them to HMRC within, I think, ten days of the month following. There is a clear indication, by the issuing of a seemingly false payslip for a gross income of £500 with a nil tax/NI liability, accompanied by an actual payment of nearly £2000, that the tax net is being avoided. Otherwise, what is the point of the exercise? (This begs the question of where the money is coming from).
We need to not just establish misadministration, but a crime. Intent. It’s also important to protect the informant.
For example, when a person is employed as an in-house carpenter that employee is on PAYE for these duties. If the carpenter is asked to fix the roof as a favour, outside his contract of employment, and paid cash, then this is a separate engagement. The carpenter is then required to conduct a self-assessment declaration.
For example, the clerk who does the payroll is off on holiday and the extra few hours overtime is not included in the months pay. It’s OK for the boss to hand over cash at gross value to the employee as payment for the extra hours, on the understanding that when the payroll clerk gets back from holiday, the relevant deductions appear on the next payslip.
For example, when an EU citizen is employed as part-contractor. It is legal to declare a deficient gross income up to a low tax threshold in one member state, and the remaining part of gross income up to a similar low tax threshold in another EU state (foreign payroll) as long as the employer has a tax entity in both states. This is common in the building trade, most typically between the United Kingdom and Spain.
It is for this reason that I recommend that the end-of-year P60 declaration where there is a clear crystallisation of liability to HMRC, and discrepancy showing intent to defraud then can be used as evidence for an arrest.
I have been promised sight of the P60.
The previous “owners” of the Plas seem to have turned up again. Rumour has it that they own the two lodges at the Parc entrance. They were spotted trying with no success to gain entrance to “la Maison Williams”. Their old somewhat louche caretaker was with them.
Is that a pure coincidence?
Who are you referring to with ‘previous owners’? (There have been a few.)
The couple who appeared with Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen on tv. A thoroughly nasty pair by all accounts.
Surprising though this may sound, I’ve never watched Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen, on TV or anywhere else. I’m not even sure I know who he is.
Look him up on Google, Jac. He’s a supposed guru on all things design.
But which couple are you referring to, which previous owners?
The couple of Indian origins who used the Plas for wedding functions.
OK, I know now.
You know, Jac, I drive through the main entrance to Glynllifon most days, and when I see these two beautiful lodges, I get very angry that the couple who apparently own them have milked the taxpayers out of hundreds of thousands of pounds, have gone bankrupt,and walked away Scot free. Makes my blood boil that sharks from the other side of Offas Dyke can come here and have it away with us.
Things are VERY quiet at the Plas. Are they getting ready to do a moonlight flit?
They must know their time is up. It’s only a question of who gets to them first – police, creditors, HMRC, lenders, or people I can’t put names to that they may be in league with.
Questions regarding the Seiont Payslip & Bank Statement (sorry to be a nuisance):
1. My understanding is that the Seiont operation is not part of L&D’s business (& is subject to a separate mortgage from Together). If this is correct it is difficult to understand the reference to L&D on the recipient’s bank statement. I think that now there is no legal connection between the Seiont legal entity and L&D. If L&D really is paying-in money (& has been doing-so for some time) this is clearly evidence of impropriety, or is the use of L&D’s name just a cover-up for something else?
2. It would seem from the payslip – which is no more than just a piece of paper used as cover for another transaction – that the taxman could well be missing-out on all this. There is prima facie evidence of tax and other employment fraud here – certainly worth a look-at by HMRC. It ties-in with funny money payments from undisclosed sources not disclosed in L&D financial statements.
On another subject, presumably the NatWest mortgages are still in place, so some of the Together mortgages are Seconds? Presumably the Together mortgages relating to North Wales, including Seiont & Glynllifon are first mortgages? All told Together are into this lot for quite a bit of money. Together might go along with all these antics because it’s paying so well, but NatWest won’t tolerate it.
The fact that the payslips mention L&D further suggests that the ‘sale’ to Partridge was just a deception.
What’s more, you’re right, it is “prima facie evidence of tax and other employment fraud”.
Point2 – As I understand it, a bit of cash up-front in an envelope not being declared as gross income on an employees payslip is an administrative matter. Can be sorted out later. However it’s the end-of-year P60 that crystallises a statement to employee, whilst at the same time the P60 acts as a statement of moneys paid (or an untouchable liability) to HMRC. Any chronological discrepancy of P60 date to company declaration has to be represented as a provision in the balance sheet as short term creditor to the taxman. Falsification of a P60 is a criminal offence. HMRC officers do not need a warrant to enter and investigate premises on such matters.
A director who is also a shareholder will usually take a salary, and the remainder of his or her income will be received as dividends, which are paid from company profits after the deduction of 19% Corporation Tax.
Which explains why staff were pestered to become directors, or were made directors without their knowledge.
In an earlier comment I highlighted the Williams efforts in the licensed trade. For anyone interested in some of their activities in the field of planning permission, try reading Cornwall Council planning application PA15/08557. Of special interest is the very detailed comment of the Williams neighbour. http://planning.cornwall.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=neighbourComments&keyVal=NUIR6NFGLVE00
Basically, the Williams wanted to modify a terraced house in a conservation area. The neighbours and council said no, so he knocked it down, without permission, and leaving neighbouring premises in a dangerous condition. This application is to rebuild it. It was refused.
…………..it would also appear (with staff of more than 70 & assets of more than £20M) that L&D Ltd does not, and never did, qualify as a small company entitled to audit exemptions. They have been using this exemption so that they can use Duggan to produce dodgy accounts.
Exactly, nothing produced by Duggan can be trusted. That’s why they use him.
In situations like this there are very often two sets of accounts; the true version, and the version for public and official consumption.
Rowena is very much the person of interest.
She has a masters degree in business and previously spent time working as a finance officer for Age Concern. It’s the elderly who are most vulnerable to property fraud. There may be historical matters to uncover. I question why someone of such qualified status has enlisted a struck-off accountant who has prior convictions for deception. A person she entrusted to prepare un-audited financial statements of companies that don’t qualify for such status. Entities, which, may I highlight; she is a controlling director of.
Why would someone involved in a £20million ‘investment’ not just get a bog standard high street accountant to do the books for a few hundred quid? Something very fishy here.
Thankyou for Chapter 5, Jac.I have now taken a look at two of the documents published in Ch.4, and though there are lots of other parallel issues I am going to confine my observations by concentrating on these two documents, i.e. the Financial Statements for Leisure & Development Ltd. and the remortgage documents of May 2018. With such limited information one can only glean so much, however, here goes……
The Financial Statements
(a) The Trading Statement for this undertaking indicates turnover of £529k. There are fixed costs relating to bank charges of £240k, amortisation and depreciation charges of £704k and material costs of £130k, totaling £1074k, giving a trading loss of £545k. To this loss must be added all of the other costs of running the undertaking, including staff costs, services, maintenance of the “estate” etc. etc. I estimate that these should amount to a sum well into six figures. These items do not feature anywhere in the Trading Statement which, in my view, means that the Statement is false. The question must be asked as to which other party is meeting all these costs and where the money is coming from. Only the Williams’ will truly know the answer to these questions, but one might speculate that cash is coming from undeclared takings (and the amount of declared turnover of only £529k does appear somewhat derisory). There is strong prima facie evidence of illegal conduct here.
(b) The Company’s main business is described as Publicans & Hoteliers, yet employing assets of more than £20M it is generating turnover of a relatively miniscule £500k. This does not make sense. In reality the business might properly be described as a Property Company. The Hotel business is a sideshow.
(c) According to the Insolvency Rules, the Company is insolvent and in addition is not viable, without any prospect of future viability. The Financial Statements make no reference to these facts, or gives any assurance that these matters have been considered by the directors. There is prima facie evidence that the directors have been carrying on trading whilst insolvent. Certainly no attention has been paid to this matter.
(d) The valuations given to the various assets are wholly derisory. It is impossible to suggest that there is a goodwill element of around £3M attaching to a business which is both insolvent and not conceivably viable.The values attributed both to Properties (£14M) and to Fixtures & Fittings etc. (£5.8M – yes, £5.8M!) are surreal & can in no way relate to reality. Under the circumstances these figures should not be stated on a historic going concern basis, especially in the knowledge of the imminent closure of The Radnorshire Arms.
(e) No explanation is given for the transfer of substantial assets (£5.8M) the greater part of which (£5.5M) was used to reduce the Williams loans from £17.3M to £11.8M. We do not know what has happened to these “assets.” Are they still used in the business? Have some been sold (?illegally). Did they really exist in the first place? Did the mortgagors agree to this major switch of asset ownership when their security might have been prejudiced?
(f) It is likely that some, or all, of the above (with more to come to light), constitutes criminal conduct. The subsequent change of shareholding (one share of £1.00) changes nothing. The Williamses continue as loanholders (for £11.8M) and personal owners of Fixtures etc. used in the business to a possible value of £5.5M; they also continue as directors.
Remortgage to Together Commercial Finance Ltd. of 04.05.2018
I don’t know why this remortgage was effected, but it looks like a bit of commonsense on the part of Together in order to consolidate things. My only comment in relation to this is that it is pretty clear that Leisure & Development & its directors are in multiple breach of their obligations under the mortgage. Why doesn’t Together take any action, or seem to turn a blind eye to events? Well, they are not fools and operate in a tough world, often with desperate people, some of whom operate on the very edge of legality. That is the downside; the upside is that clients pay very heavily for the privilege of their advances. We do not know the full extent of the Williams ransom, but it will be substantial, and they are well and truly on the hook; they are very good business for Together, so it pays well to continue supporting the Williams circus. However once illegal conduct comes into play (as opposed to breaches, say, in obligations to maintain & repair property such as The Radnorshire Arms) the scenario must change. Hopefully this time has now come.
Nailed !!
I suggest North Wales Police immediately contact the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to suspend the passports of these individuals.
No reason for suspension need be given for those already convicted to custodial terms (John Duggan – Deception 9years, Stuart Cooper – Fraud 3years, and Keith Partridge, Fraud 6years). They can also apply for suspension for Paul and Rowena Williams passports if they think that their properties in Goa indicate the possibility of flight whilst investigations take place.
A similar application to suspend can be done without warrant by HMRC.
We’re all behind you, Jac. Well done. I understand that the loan sharks in Cheadle have been tipped off to check their security on all those charges against Plas Glynllifon Ltd. Hope the fence around the Plas is strong enough to keep them out.
Still not heard from the Planning Officer of Cyngor Gwynedd re the lack of planning applications to change the use of a Grade 1 listed building and carry out works to the Plas and its grounds. Egg on faces perhaps?
And we all hate that MGM lion!!!
The problem with that might be that if Together pulled the plug on them they could walk away claiming their grand vision for Plas Glynllifon had been sabotaged by people like me. And many people would accept their version.
I’d rather they were made to pay for what they’ve done. They obviously enjoy associating with criminals so why not let them associate with criminals on a permanent basis?
Another flavour of the Williams callous disregard for the rule of law at Waves. Enjoy.
https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=802&MId=7337&Ver=4
A treasure trove for anyone wanting to know about Paul and Rowena Williams, the people they employ, and the way their businesses are run. Absolutely priceless.
Amazing saga of slimy people let off the hook so far by slimeballs – like the Cardiff Assembly lot !
Excellent work again, however a few buts to help fill in some gaps.
The most usual way to buy property in Goa is through a company. It gets round lots of niggly Indian property laws, and everyone investing from overseas does it. Dead end on the Debra front I’m afraid.
Waves was named as such by the Williams. It was auctioned in October 2012 by Natwest as the Pavillions or Courtyard. The auctioneers were Allsops in London.
The buildings at the rear remained in the possession of the original owner of the Pavillions after the bank’s foreclosure. The original owner had only re-mortgaged part of the complex, and it was that part that the Williams got. The original owner still had tenants in the building at the back.
The tenants (young family of 2 adults and 4 kids) had to access their home down a passageway on Williams land. Paul Williams had a 6 foot gate installed, and locked it in an attempt to intimidate the family.
More to come.
Keep it coming!