Paymatters Umbrella
Complaint 242410 Details

Paymatters Ltddirectors Miles Grady & Nicholas Holmes. Would you trust them after reading this???

I was in my early twenties when I founded a company called "Griffin Finance Ltd" which I later changed to "Harrington Brooks Accountants Ltd". (check Companies house register for details) I had put everything I had into this business, from coming up with the concept to all my savings and time. As the business proved to be a success I went on and employed my two neighbours and friends, Nick Holmes and Miles Grady to run the sales and book-keeping for the company. I thought, if I had to trust anyone it was better to trust two friends than two strangers. To cut a very, very long story short, my first problem came when I had to make Mr Holmes and Mr Grady equal partners in the company as they had threatened to leave once we were in a position where I could not manage the company without them, as they knew. Doing this I had given them control of my company with 66.6...% of the voting rites together. I even had to guarantee them both £50,000 per year (which was nearly double their current salaries) and a company car out of my own pocket incase the company failed in the future.

A few years later Nick & Miles approached me and asked me, and I quote "Would you like to cash in your shares as myself (Nick) and Miles just want to keep Harrington Brooks small, we don't want to expand any more as you do, we want to keep Harrington as a small family business. I'm sure you can make more money with the cash elsewhere?" Based on everything THEY reported my shares were worth just over £1,200,000. (the actual figures revealed that they were worth 5-7 times that) I then took advice from a friend and accountant who knew Miles and Nick - he told me "Be careful Ian, it's all a bit sudden after all this time....make sure they sign an embarrassment clause. This is a contract to say that if the directors, Nick Holmes or Miles Grady were refinancing or selling the company at the time or within a reasonable length of time, in the future, without my knowledge, I would be able to claim back the difference as it breaches their responsibilities to their shareholders. This act is also corporate fraud and can carry a prison sentence, but the contract makes it much easier and quicker to reclaim the money as opposed to suing and criminal proceedings, which would take years.

Business law is very clear here, the directors must inform the major shareholders of any such activities as they happen or if they know they will in the future (fiduciary duties). The law protects shareholders from dishonest directors (with insider knowledge) buying out shareholders whilst constructing a better deal for themselves without the company owners knowledge or even knowing there is a higher value deal on the table in the future. I called Nick Holmes at the time and said to him "Nick, will you just sign this simple document so I know there is nothing going on now or in the near future that I don't know about? " Nick Holmes would not sign it, in fact he made me feel so guilty for asking and not trusting them I withdrew the contract. He even swore on his child's life..! I felt ashamed of myself for asking. Later that week I accepted their offer.

The next thing I knew Harrington Brooks was all over the Manchester newspapers. Part of Harrington Brooks had been sold for around £15,000,000 according to the press releases. You don't have to be the Chancellor to work out what happened. An honest person might say this deal was constructed by Miles and Nick before they approached me to sell my shares. Never mind the supposed entire reason for the buyout was for Nick and Miles to keep the company SMALL and NOT to expand or sell as I was the one who was always pressuring them to bring in venture capital investment in to grow the business..." which is exactly what they did when they got my shares!

"On his child's life..." was the nail in the coffin for me. It was all about TRUST, looking back I was such a stupid fool. I don't remember a single shareholders meeting I was invited to, despite all the huge changes made within my own company. Directors changed (Nick's own brother) subsidiary companies set up, websites and domains moved, bought and changed. The list was endless and all of this I found out after the sale of my own company. How is this legal? It's NOT!

This company was my life, the feeling of betrayal, loss, loss of trust and self-esteem lead to me having dis-abilitating depression and eventually a nervous breakdown. I was unable to face the stress of a legal challenge at the time. Neither Nick or Miles would take my calls after I found out about the sale. My family contacted Mr Holmes to ask "How could you do such a thing when Ian had trusted you so much and gave you the chance in the first place? " Nick Holmes replied "Get off the phone you silly old cow and don't get involved, tell Ian to fight his own battles" NICE!

A few years later I regained my health and wrote www.CanYouTrustThem.com solely to Name & Shame Nick Holmes & Miles Grady. To my surprise the site immediately attracted 1000's of people every day using it for their own personal experiences too. I didn't write this site to make a living or profit, it is totally free to use. I have never sold any data or made any profits from it in any way. The only revenue generated is from a google advertising banner to finance the up-keep of the website. CanYouTrustThem.com is now currently dealing with 10's of millions in disputes and getting amazing settlements every day!

Within a few days of posting my story last week on the 21/4/2013 Nick Holmes and Miles Grady emailed me, threatening me with legal action bragging that they now have a company Called PayMatters Ltd which is worth £45,000,000 per year and they are now losing business because of my complaint.

It just goes to show in the age of the internet, no matter how big they are or how many lawyers they have, a single person, armed with the truth and a laptop can now stand their ground against what was a lost cause.

This brought another mystery to light, I Googled Paymatters Ltd - it advertises that it was founded by Tax experts. Hmmmm, Miles Grady worked at the ICS Insurance then debt management for as long as I have known him and was certainly NOT a secret Tax Lawyer. Nick Holmes previously worked as a salesman for a mobile phone company prior to the debt management. So, not sure where all their Tax expertise came from???

Here is some insider information: Harrington Brooks was deregulated for VAT over 10 years ago and received an enormous back payment of 17.5 percent of all their clients payments, which to this day, has never been given back to the customers/clients of Harrington Brooks or All Clear Finance, while under the control of Nick Holmes & Miles Grady. If you are a client of theirs or any of their associated debt management companies I would demand between 17.5 & 20 percent (depending on when you joined the programme) of all your payments back. Not to mention all your future payments! I have waited some time to set that cat amongst the pigeons.


To Miles & Nick:

I am a very fair person as you know. If either of you read this which I am sure you will as I have just e-mailed you the link. Take a polygraph if you have nothing to hide. Answer these three question's under polygraph. If you are telling the truth I will drop and remove my complaint. (good luck with that one!)

"Did you purchase my shares while knowing there was a more lucrative deal on the table for the company in the future ?"

"Did you make any major changes to the company without informing me or holding a shareholders meeting ?"

"Did you manipulate the companies profits report to greatly reduce the value of my shares ?" (By around 500 percent :()

Registered UK Polygraphs examinations are over 98 percent accurate. Take the test and clear your names. I will accept results either way. Don't take the test and see your name in lights for the rest of your lives or until you settle my claim. I will never go away!!! Your call Gents.

There is one thing more powerful than any company or lawyer, public opinion! I await you response, which I will be posting here. I have 100 more sites just like this one ready to go live. I just want you to tell the truth and let justice be done. You should be totally ashamed of yourselves! Well, you know what they say about the truth coming out ? It's out and it's staying out!!!

UPDATE 16/05/2013: It has now been 4 week's since I challenged Nick Holmes and Miles Grady to clear their name by taking a simple Polygraph test. Neither of them are not prepaired to take the test. I do have a nasty letter threatening me and my personal life which is not really what I was asking for, but it does show a very clear picture of Nick Holmes and Miles Grady.

Best Regards

Ian Griffin