a picture is worth a thousand words....on 22 Jan he's in court
THE DAME IS BACK....AND SHE IS ANGRY.
Felicity Buchan has questions to answer
Many readers lost substantial amounts of money buying sofas from Maker & Son. They contacted the Hornet asking for help....and help they got.
The Dame wrote about one of those involved and this man, Scott Dylan succeeding in persuading Google to remove the articles about him.
However, the Dame values fair free speech and to prevent Mr Dylan from trying the same tactic she reproduces extracts from The Times newspaper: It is one of the several reports about Inc& Co and Mr Dylan.
If Mr Dylan believes the Times has been unfair why has he not sued for defamation? There is an obvious answer to that!
From The Times....
"Researching Inc and Dylan is far from straightforward. Until recently 27 of Dylan's directorships appeared on Companies House simply as a full stop. After The Times contacted the registry, it returned these directorships to Dylan's name and blamed a 'technical issue".
Representatives of Dylan and Inc have indicated they were not responsible for any misleading filings.
There are question marks over how Inc’s bosses appear to have distanced themselves from numerous contentious insolvencies. For example, via backdated changes to director appointments filed at Companies House which give the appearance that they are separated from a company’s demise.
Dylan, 39, grew up in southeast London and on his website describes himself as a “renowned entrepreneur, investor, business strategist and philanthropist”. As Inc & Co’s co-founder and partner, he has said he oversees its “strategic direction”. Dylan is said to regard this as out of date and has indicated he has no day-to-day involvement.
He has not been a director of Inc since September 2019 but several sources who have dealt with the company in recent months claim he has remained active in its affairs. A former employee of Inc has described Dylan as “the architect and controlling force” behind Inc, alleging he handled group purchases, negotiated transactions and controlled bank accounts.
He was made bankrupt in 2005 over business debts and was not discharged until 2015 when he entered an individual insolvency arrangement, another form of insolvency. Dylan did not respond to invitations to explain why filings purport to show that he was a director of at least ten companies during the bankruptcy, which would be illegal. The Insolvency Service is understood to be pursuing disqualification proceedings against Dylan.
When companies run by Dylan and his associates have gone bust, insolvency practitioners have frequently expressed frustration at an alleged unwillingness to supply books and records and have questioned the veracity and timing of Companies House filings — a pattern repeated in the Maker & Son insolvency. Inc has denied the allegations from insolvency practitioners and denies making improper filings.
None of this has prevented the group from running businesses, and insolvencies linked to them have left behind tens of millions of pounds worth of debts to creditors including HM Revenue & Customs. One of these, a company formerly known as Fresh Thinking Group that Dylan controlled, is at the heart of a High Court civil dispute between Barclays, Dylan and four of his associates. The defendants vehemently dispute the bank’s version of events.
Barclays has accused Dylan of using Fresh business accounts to unlawfully “extract” £13.7 million from several companies’ accounts. The funds were allegedly partly used for the “personal benefit” of Dylan as well as for his romantic partner, plus a family member and a business partner, Dave Antrobus.
Court filings show the bank “infers” that payments made to two private jet companies were for a holiday to Turkey for Dylan and others, at a cost of about £157,000. His family member allegedly benefited from payments worth about £2 million, which relate “to the purchase of at least one hotel in Turkey”, while Dylan’s romantic partner allegedly benefited from a £1.7 million payment.
The disputed funds were also allegedly used to buy a travel agency called Baldwins.
Pending the outcome of the civil claim, Dylan and two associates, including Jack Mason, Inc’s chief executive, are subject to £13.7 million asset freezing orders. The orders were made in October and November 2021 and renewed last July, a month before Inc acquired Maker & Son"