Boris or Jeremy, choose your client?

Regular readers know that we advocate checking and double checking all prospective client and supplier data. The more financial information you hold about a contact, the more informed your decision making will be and the more limited your exposure and risk.

The Challenge

Imagine this, two people come to you, promising the earth. You’ve heard of them before but you need to learn more before you can decide who best to side with.

For the sake of this example, let’s call one

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (or Boris to his friends) and the other

Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt ! !

Resources used:

• Companies House – Search for information about the company & people
• Check financial/liquidity status – see if any financial concerns raised
• Websites – Check the clients own site, look at reviews etc
• Account details – Have a pro-forma to collect client details. If you would like a blank template, email us

Simple due diligence shows us

Boris :

• Was born in June 1964 and has a known address in London N7.
• Official records show that Boris has only ever been a director of one company, Finland Station Limited.
• The company was formed in April 2006 and for the first 11 months was actually known as Blackrock Productions.
• Boris was a director from the inception of the business but resigned his role in May 2008.
• The business was subsequently closed down in April 2016.
• From 2010, the business had only ever filed dormant or small business accounts and as a result, the established trade reference agencies last rated the business as high risk.

From this point, Boris does not appear to have a direct responsibility in any limited company business and so one may question both where his income is derived and his financial strength, key questions to ask when offering goods or services on credit.

Jeremy on the other hand :

• Was born in November 1966 and has a known address in Farnham, Surrey.
• Records show Jeremy has a history of creating and managing businesses as far back as 1990.
• The majority of said businesses continue to exist to this day.
• Perhaps most successful was Hotcourses (Hotcourses Foundation) that was rumoured to have been sold in 2017 for around £30M, netting Jeremy a reported £14M.

Jeremy continues to appear to be listed as a director of the business and although it is believed that his focus may be on other matters, there may be a dividend income to be coupled with his recent investment return.

Conclusion

In short, had our new client conducted the same simple diligence checks that we encourage all of our contacts and readership to complete, they could have avoided the prospect of a long, drawn out battle for money and power…. Unlike Boris and Jeremy J

If you have any questions or would to know more about our services please get in touch – Contact Us