Commercial due diligence is about recognising the warning signs before a business fails, not understanding what went wrong afterwards. This case is a perfect example.
A company director who fraudulently obtained £300,000 through six Bounce Back Loans has been jailed, but the commercial warning signs were already visible years before the criminal conviction.
Steven Brookes, aged 40, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to 11 offences of fraud and acting as a director whilst disqualified. The court heard that he submitted six fraudulent Bounce Back Loan applications across five companies, using his wife’s identity without her knowledge and falsely inflating or fabricating company turnover figures to obtain the maximum available loans.
Rather than supporting businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, the money was spent on personal items including a family trip to Disneyland, a holiday rental in Tenerife, an Audi with personalised registration plates, private school fees, luxury shopping, home improvements and transfers into a joint household account.
Only £7,494 has been repaid from the £300,000 fraudulently obtained. The Insolvency Service is now seeking to recover the outstanding proceeds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
The Fraud
Between May and October 2020, Brookes submitted six fraudulent Bounce Back Loan applications.
The investigation established that he:
- Applied for loans in his wife’s name without her knowledge.
- Opened company bank accounts in her name to receive the loan funds.
- Inflated and, in some cases, completely fabricated company turnover figures.
- Obtained two Bounce Back Loans for the same company despite businesses only being entitled to one.
- Claimed substantial turnover for companies that had never traded.
- Used the money for personal expenditure rather than business purposes.
- Carried out these activities whilst disqualified from acting as a company director.
The sentencing judge described his conduct as “calculated and greedy.”
Commercial Due Diligence Revealed the Warning Signs Years Earlier
This case demonstrates why commercial due diligence should never rely on a single company search. Effective commercial due diligence involves examining connected companies, directors, trading addresses, telephone numbers and wider commercial intelligence.
This is not the first time Blind Pig Media Limited has featured on the NPD website.
In early 2023, we were instructed by a freelancer attempting to recover just over £500 from Blind Pig Media Limited.
As with every instruction, we first attempted to recover the outstanding debt. Despite repeated attempts to contact the company, we received no meaningful engagement.
We therefore carried out a detailed commercial investigation into Blind Pig Media Limited. Our enquiries uncovered a growing number of County Court Judgments, adverse trading information, poor payment history and numerous negative reviews. Taken together, the information suggested that the company’s financial position was deteriorating rapidly.
Drawing on decades of experience investigating financially distressed businesses, we advised our client that, in our opinion, Blind Pig Media Limited was unlikely to survive much longer and that commencing legal proceedings would almost certainly be an unnecessary expense with little realistic prospect of recovering the debt.
Our assessment proved to be correct.
Further County Court Judgments were registered in the weeks that followed, including one exceeding £50,000, before Blind Pig Media Limited entered Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation in June 2023.
A Statement of Affairs subsequently filed at Companies House estimated a deficiency to unsecured creditors of approximately £503,000.
At the time, we knew nothing about the fraudulent Bounce Back Loan applications. Those facts only emerged following the Insolvency Service investigation and the subsequent criminal proceedings. However, the commercial warning signs identified during our investigation proved to be well founded.
Read our original Blind Pig Media investigation here.
The Company Failed. The Business Continued.
For many unsecured creditors, the liquidation of Blind Pig Media Limited marked the end of any realistic prospect of recovering the money they were owed.
However, the Blind Pig business did not disappear.
The Blind Pig Group Limited continued trading from the same address, using the same telephone number, and, at the time, with Steven Brookes recorded as its director. Apart from a slight change in the company name, the business continued to operate and remains an active company today.
To anyone carrying out proper commercial due diligence, those connections would have been immediately apparent.
Commercial Due Diligence and the NPD Credit Information Database
The Blind Pig case demonstrates exactly why the NPD Credit Information Database was developed.
Standard company reports provide valuable information about an individual company. However, businesses rarely operate in isolation. Directors, trading names, trading addresses, registered offices, telephone numbers and connected companies often reveal a much wider commercial picture.
The NPD Credit Information Database cross-collates intelligence using company names, trading names, current and previous directors, trading addresses, registered offices, telephone numbers, email addresses and other identifiable links. We combine publicly available information with intelligence gathered during our own investigations and information shared by our customers.
Importantly, we collate both positive and negative trading experiences. A history of prompt payment can be just as valuable as adverse information when assessing commercial risk.
What began as a relatively small, unpaid freelance invoice evolved into a much broader picture of financial distress. Years later, the criminal proceedings revealed the fraudulent activity taking place behind the scenes.
Businesses rarely fail overnight. The warning signs are usually there.
Recognising those warning signs before they become someone else’s loss is exactly what the NPD Credit Information Database has been developed to help businesses do.
Q. Why isn’t a standard company search always enough?
A standard company search provides valuable information about the company you are searching. However, much of that information is historical and relates to events that have already occurred.
The NPD Credit Information Database complements traditional company searches by cross-collating publicly available information with current commercial intelligence, helping businesses build a more complete and up-to-date picture of the organisations they are dealing with.
Q. What is the NPD Credit Information Database?
The NPD Credit Information Database combines publicly available information with commercial intelligence gathered through our Debt Recovery and Credit Reports Departments, together with information shared by our customers and other trusted business sources.
We cross-collate intelligence relating to companies, directors, previous directors, trading names, trading addresses, registered offices, telephone numbers, email addresses and other identifiable links to help businesses build a more complete picture of commercial risk and make better-informed credit decisions.
Q. What information does the NPD Credit Information Database cross-collate?
The NPD Credit Information Database cross-collates information relating to companies, current and previous directors, trading names, trading addresses, registered offices, telephone numbers, email addresses and other identifiable links. By bringing together information from a wide range of sources, we help businesses build a more complete picture of commercial risk than would be available from a standard company search alone.
Q. OK, I’ve carried out my company searches, and everything looks fine. How do I keep an eye on things going forward?
A company search is only ever a snapshot of the information available on the day it is carried out. As your business relationship develops, new information may become available that could influence your future credit decisions.
For that reason, all NPD Company Credit Reports include 12 Month FREE MONITORING
If we receive any adverse information from any source relating to the company you have searched, we will notify you immediately, allowing you to review the new information and decide whether any action is required.
