Claims underway against Cheshire
Finance & Leasing Ltd, say sources
Things are heating up in the Lifestyle TV
scandal that Leasing Life has been reporting on over the
past few months.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Scores of hairdressing salons around Britain
signed leases on televisions and mirrors after being promised by
Lifestyle that, if they did so, they would receive advertising
revenue that roughly matched the value of the leases. In most
cases, the ad revenue did not materialise – leaving salons with
large debts.
As a result, many salons, some of which also
allege the equipment was never delivered, have stopped paying their
lease rentals. Lombard, one of the lessors involved, has launched a
fraud investigation into the matter. Lifestyle is also accused of
falsifying signatures.
Shire Leasing, which is connected to a number
of other controversial suppliers, brokered some of the Lifestyle
equipment leases.
A number of the salons – one of which signed
up to a £36,000 (€42,500) lease for 18 televisions – face dire
financial difficulties because of the alleged scam and, as a
result, have joined legal action groups against Lifestyle.
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By GlobalDataThe government has launched an investigation
into Lifestyle – and last month the UK government’s Department for
Business, Innovation & Skills was due to interview one of its
directors, Anthony Lloyd. However, for reasons unknown, it was
forced to reschedule the meeting. Government investigators are also
due to arrange a time to interview Eric Morgan, another Lifestyle
director.
Morgan and Lloyd are also directors of
Cheshire Finance & Leasing Ltd, a leasing brokerage that was
wound-up in January and that is also believed to be the subject of
claims by a finance company for non-payment of debts.
A petition to wind-up Lifestyle, made by
Saville Group Ltd, the UK’s largest specialist supplier of audio
visual, multimedia and videoconferencing technology, was upheld on
13 May by District Judge Maughan at the Birmingham District
Registry.
Geoff Mullen, group credit manager at Saville,
which is owed £25,000 by Lifestyle, said: “We dealt with Lifestyle
for about a year and supplied goods that were initially paid for,
then payments slowed down and then eventually stopped.”
In May, Lifestyle was found liable by Bristol
County Court following allegations – brought by a Bristol-based
hairdresser – of non-supply of goods and fraudulent
misrepresentation.
After the court action, the case was referred
to detectives in Manchester, who put it to the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills.
