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Nuisance call firm linked to web of call centre woes

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Ammanford call centre boss: Richard Jones

A WEST WALES based company has been fined for making nuisance calls just a week after another was punished for the same offence. This has taken place as a Herald investigation has revealed that many companies working in the telesales industry in west Wales are connected by common directors or shareholders.

Miss-sold Products UK​ ​had a call centre in Ammanford where they employed up to 15 call centre agents. Those agents made 75 million nuisance calls in just four months – between November 2015 and March 2016 – most of which were from an automated dialler.

Now the company, which had its registered office in a terraced house in Milford Haven at the time, has been fined £350,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). That is a registered address shared by several other call centre type companies.

Last week Port Talbot-based Barrington Claims Ltd was also fined – this time £250,000 – after making more than 15 million automated PPI calls, between February and May 2016. That company, which is not connected to Miss-Sold, had failed to ensure automated marketing calls were sent to individuals who had consented to receive marketing.

Miss-Sold Products UK Ltd was a Payment Protection Insurance reclaims specialist. Charging customers they sold to an upfront fee, promising they would get more back later once their PPI claims would be settled. The company had previously been known as Penguin Claims Limited until November 2015.

The current director of the company is listed as Douglas Andrew Albury. His address is given as 83 Dulcie Street, Manchester. However a quick check found that this was as copy shop offering mail redirection services. Albury over recent years has been linked to over 37 limited companies. They include several other call centre based business still trading in Ammanford and Carmarthen – his contact address differs depending on which company his is connected with – but his date of birth and middle name show it is the same man. Companies House shows he also has a west Wales address in Neath.

Companies he controls include Your Money Rights Ltd​,​ which is currently trading, and another​,​ Business Advice Bureau UK Ltd​,​ was struck off the register at Companies House as recently as Wednesday (Jan 17).

MILLIONS IN DEPOSITS LOST

Other now dissolved firms that he has been involved with in locally include Scarlet Protect Limited – a reincarnation of a Carmarthenshire based PPI firm which ripped the general public off for millions of pounds.

Albury was also a director of its forerunner, Scarlet Marketing Services Limited – again a PPI reclaim firm – which employed, according to a former member of staff, around 60 call centre staff in offices at King Street Carmarthen. That company was put into voluntary liquidation on December 8, 2016​,​ with almost £5.7m of debts​,​ including over £70k in unpaid fines, £88k owing to HMRC and over £5,000,000 in deposits owing to members of the public.

Your Money Rights Ltd – also known as U Legal – is another firm he was listed as a director of. That firm is still trading

Miss-sold Products UK Ltd made its latest, mostly automated​,​ marketing calls between November 16, 2015, and March 7, 2016. The calls contained recorded messages, primarily promoting PPI compensation claims, but the company did not have the recipients’ consent for making marketing calls, which is against the law.

It also broke the law, the ICO ruled, by failing to identify the organisation making the calls, while it used so-called ‘added value’ numbers that generate revenue when an individual calls the number, which is then apportioned and passed to associated companies and the network carrier.

OVER 100 COMPLAINTS

The ICO received 146 complaints from the public about Miss-sold Products. Some people were called on multiple occasions. Others said they were unable to opt out of receiving the calls. Some expressed further distress as they were concerned that calls late at night may have been from family members or those to whom they provided care.

Albury as director of Miss-sold – which had its registered office at 10A North Road, Milford Haven before it was moved in 2017 to Darlington, County Durham – had applied to strike the firm off the Companies House register but the ICO has blocked the move pending enforcement action.

10A North Road is not an official address, but number 10 is owned by local businessman Adrian Jenkins who was also an officer of the now defunct Business Advice Bureau UK Ltd

A further company of which Albury was a director recently moved its registered office from that Darlington address to the Dulcie Street address in Manchester. Another key player in Miss-Sold was Richard Jones – he has resigned his directorship but is still actively involved in other call centre related businesses in Carmarthenshire.

This is to allow all options to be considered for recovery of the penalty, and for the actions of the director in running the company to be fully scrutinised.

ICO Enforcement Group Manager Andy Curry said: “This company blatantly ignored the laws on telephone marketing, making a huge volume of intrusive calls over a short period of time and without any apparent attempt to ensure they had the consent of the people they were harassing.

“The ICO will come down hard on rogue operators who want to treat the law and the UK public with contempt. We hope the Government will bring forward plans to introduce personal liability for directors as a matter of urgency, to stop them from escaping punishment after profiting from nuisance calls and texts.

“In the absence of a change in the law, the ICO will continue to face challenges in the recovery of penalties, and rogue directors will think they can get away with causing nuisance to members of the public.”

Business

Largest Welsh port appoints communications and marketing director

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THE Port of Milford Haven has announced that Anna Malloy has been appointed as its first Communications and Marketing Director.

Anna is appointed to the Senior Management Team and this new role will be pivotal to the delivery of the Port’s long-term growth and diversification agenda and in ensuring that its obligations to coastal communities, future generations and to nature are honoured.

Tom Sawyer, CEO of the Port of Milford Haven, congratulated Anna and said: “Anna has a key role to play in our future and it’s doubly lovely to see ‘port-grown-talent’ flourish and for colleagues to progress up through our organisation.”

Anna will lead across the public affairs, marketing, sustainability, media relations, and community relations activities. She will therefore play a central role in the development of new and existing partnerships, including the Celtic Freeport, the Milford Haven Energy Cluster and the Celtic Collection; sitting alongside the delivery of major projects like Milford Waterfront and the Pembroke Dock Renewables Terminal.

“This is such an exciting opportunity. I am proud to be joining the Senior Management Team and look forward to delivering our ambitious strategy,” commented Anna Malloy, Communications and Marketing Director.

She added: “The Port of Milford Haven is playing a key role in the transition of South-West Wales’ economy to a decarbonised future. A beautiful place, with great people, that I am privileged to call my home.”

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Community

First deadlines met following enforcement action at landfill site

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THE first set of deadlines for the completion of actions to tackle the ongoing odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill in Pembrokeshire have been met, one week on following the issuing of further enforcement action by Natural Resources Wales (NRW).  

NRW issued site operator Resources Management UK Ltd (RML) with a further Regulation 36 Enforcement Notice on Thursday 18 April.

This outlined a series of actions to be completed by specified deadlines to address the ongoing odour and landfill gas emission issues at the site.

During the latest site inspection which took place yesterday (Thursday 25 April), NRW was able to confirm that three actions have been completed – two ahead of the imposed deadlines.

The operator has installed 24 pin wells, which have been driven into the waste in the lower section of the cell identified as causing the odour issues (Cell 8). These have also been connected to the landfill gas extraction system.

Capping material has been placed over the same area of the cell and welded to the basal liner to encapsulate gas in this area, allowing for extraction by the pin wells and four horizontal gas wells, which were previously installed.

While progress is being made, NRW officers detected strong landfill gas odours during an offsite assessment on Wednesday (24 April) in Poyston Cross and Crundale. Weather conditions this week appear to have led to a wider spread of landfill gas to surrounding areas, not solely linked to wind direction.

NRW odour assessments follow a set route around the landfill, with designated survey spots, identified to enable consistency of assessment and reporting. This is essential to ensure the regulatory and enforcement responses where there is offsite odour attributed to the landfill is robust. 

The remaining Regulation 36 Notice actions will require significant effort by RML to ensure they are completed on time and NRW continues to closely monitor progress.

Clare Pillman, Chief Executive of NRW, met with representatives from NRW’s South West Industry Regulation Team and Pembrokeshire County Council during a visit to Pembrokeshire on Thursday 25 April.

Clare Pillman, Chief Executive, Natural Resources Wales, said:  “While visiting the area surrounding Withyhedge Landfill with our regulatory team and partners from Pembrokeshire County Council this week, I was able to see and hear for myself just what people living and working in these communities have had to endure as a result of the odour issues from the site.

“What they have been experiencing is unacceptable and our officers have been working tirelessly alongside colleagues at Pembrokeshire County Council to ensure the operator gets this under control as quickly as possible. While it was clear that a lot of work has been done on site, there is still more to do to ensure they address all the actions set out in the enforcement notice.

“We want to make sure that happens, and are exploring every option together with Pembrokeshire County Council to ensure the operator works quickly to resolve the issues which are clearly affecting the quality of life of people in these communities.”

Huwel Manley, Head of South West Operations, said: “While we are reassured that action is being carried out by the operators at Withyhedge Landfill with a sense of urgency, we are continuing our regulatory presence on site to ensure the operator’s focus remains on tackling the issues that will address the continuing odour issues being experienced by surrounding communities.

“We will be closely monitoring progress over the coming days and weeks to ensure the operator complies with all the actions set out in Notice by 14 May. If they are not met, we will pursue additional enforcement action where appropriate.”

NRW requests that instances of odour from the landfill continue to be reported via this dedicated form: https://bit.ly/reportasmellwithyhedge or by calling 0300 065 3000.

Please report odours at the time of them being experienced, rather than historically. Reporting odours in a timely manner will help guide the work of partners more effectively, particularly in the further development of air quality monitoring.

These photos taken on 16 April and 25 April show the progress of capping works on cell 8. Pin wells are visible in both images. These have been connected to the landfill gas extraction system and are extracting gas from the waste mass.

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Community

Milford Haven’s war memorial is 100 years old today

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THE Milford Haven War Memorial, a significant landmark commemorating the fallen heroes of World Wars and subsequent conflicts, marks its 100th anniversary today.

The memorial, which was inaugurated on April 26, 1924 by the Venerable the Archdeacon of St Davids, remains a poignant symbol of sacrifice and hope for peace.

Constructed from 1923 to 1924, the memorial consists of a striking assembly of pink granite and white marble statues that were sculpted in Italy.

Representing the Army, Navy, and Air Force, these life-size statues stand on an unpolished three-step plinth below a main pedestal. A soldier faces west and a sailor east, with an airman atop the central column, surveying the skies.

The names and inscriptions of the fallen are carved into the polished granite shaft, meticulously supervised by surveyor J.P. Morgan with contractor E. Jones of Llanybydder.

Located on Hamolton Terrace with views over the Milford Haven waterway, the memorial is a freestanding structure in an external, roadside setting. It features a serviceman/woman sculpture in marble and Portland stone, set on a concrete base surrounded by railings. Inscribed plaques honour those who served in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and the conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2009.

The memorial lists the names of 239 men who perished in the First World War on its polished grey granite faces. The Second World War claimed 157 lives from this community, whose names are recorded on bronze plaques around the base. Notably, the memorial also honours one serviceman who fell during the Korean War and another who was killed in Iraq in 2007.

The Milford Haven War Memorial stands not only as a historical monument but also as an enduring reminder of the costs of war and the community’s ongoing commitment to peace.

As the town reflects on a century of remembrance, the hope remains that future generations will continue to cherish and learn from the lessons of the past.

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