£50m solar panel specialist wound-up

Grant Prior 13 years ago
Share

A solar panel specialist with an annual turnover of £50m has been wound-up following a probe by the Insolvency Service into its high-pressure sales techniques.

Solar Energy Savings Limited was wound-up by the High Court in Manchester on a petition presented by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Solar started trading in early 2011 and quickly built up a turnover of more than £50m.

The company did not carry installation work itself but contacted prospective customers via a series of telephone marketing calls leading ultimately to a home visit by a salesman.

The Insolvency Service will now be going through the company’s books to see how much is owed to installation contractors

The investigation found that Solar engaged in serious mis-selling practices during these home visits involving high pressure sales tactics, misrepresentation and other illegal or irregular sales practices.

In particular,

  • customers were falsely led to believe that Solar was part of a government backed or officially authorised scheme providing discounts of up to 30% but that these were limited by number or time;
  • Solar’s salesmen consistently overstated the performance of the panels and the return on investment likely to be achieved by the customer;
  • Solar claimed to be a member of a trade body when it was not;
  • customers were subjected to a sales pitch lasting in excess of two hours and signed contracts merely to get the salesman to leave their homes;
  • customers were incorrectly told that the system could be reinstalled free of charge if they moved home;
  • Solar induced customers to sign a contract with the promise that they would receive the full amount of their purchase price back after five years through a scheme falsely said to be underwritten by an international company called Capital Suisse;
  • Solar failed to maintain adequate accounting records, preventing the Investigator from obtaining accurate information about sales and cancellations, customer deposits and the true nature and extent of payments made from its bank account.

Commenting on the case, Scott Crighton, Investigation Supervisor said: “Solar Energy Savings Limited persistently and deliberately flouted both statutory regulations and industry standard selling practices in order to generate sales and widely promoted a non-existent scheme in order to induce members of the public into signing a contract.

“These proceedings make clear that The Insolvency Service will take firm and decisive action to protect the public against such objectionable practices.”

Latest news

BAM boots Danny Sullivan off £100m HS2 bat tunnel

Contractor terminates labour supply deal on controversial project
21 minutes ago

Mace confirmed for £200m Paddington overstation job

Helical JV also sets start date for 429-room student job over Southwark station
35 minutes ago

Kier names new construction boss for clients and markets

Rebecca Boundy promoted to lead sector teams after year of framework wins
19 minutes ago

Elements Europe went down owing supply chain £8.7m

Korean owner kept offsite specialist afloat with £71.8m of loans in bid to stem losses
22 hours ago

Bristol awards £288m civils and highways framework

Eurovia, Tarmac, Colas and regional SMEs share 10-lot deal
1 hour ago

Kier seals PCSA deal for £55m Bridgend school

Heronbridge special school move back on track after cost hike and delay
1 hour ago

Mobile crane fire closes M11 motorway

City Lifting machine catches fire in Essex
59 minutes ago

Altius and Erith win landmark London tower rebuild

Westminster council advances Huguenot House redevelopment
1 day ago

Corbyn suppliers left £4.4m out-of-pocket

£33m-turnover civils contractor only employed eight staff
2 days ago

McAlpine to restore England’s largest Victorian water tower

Colchester’s iconic ‘Jumbo’ to be reborn as visitor destination
1 day ago

Andrew Scott lands £20m Grand Pavilion revamp in Porthcawl

Restoration of landmark Art Deco building gets underway with 2027 finish target
1 day ago

Keepmoat profit drops 35% as completions slide

Land pipeline expands to 24,400 plots as firm eyes rebound
1 day ago

Bid race begins for £425m water transfer scheme

Contractors invited to help shape Affinity Water project
1 day ago

Legacy building defects return to haunt Barratt Redrow

House builder sets aside £248m for Redrow fire and concrete frame fixes
2 days ago

Skanska agrees £153m price to revamp A47 Thickthorn junction

New link roads and underpasses to ease traffic near Norwich
2 days ago

First tower plans go in for £1bn Liverpool Pier Head site

First design will "set tone" of scheme which could contain 60-storey tower
2 days ago

Barhale creates new low-carbon chief board role

Haddon takes board seat while Solomon becomes eastern regional director
2 days ago

Met Police preps £300m framework for estate upgrade

Early market talks start ahead of October bid contest
2 days ago

Raft of SME firms win £94m framework places

More than 50 demolition and asbestos specialists chosen: Full list
2 days ago

GRAHAM gets go-ahead for £110m Boddingtons Brewery revamp

Work to start this summer after Gateway 2 approval secured
3 days ago

Thames Water finance chief joins BAM UK & Ireland

Abigail Farrell-Black joins contractor as new finance head after senior roles at Thames and Southern Water
3 days ago

FM Conway profit jumps to £33m under Vinci

Turnover hits £608m and cash surges £68m just two months into new ownership
3 days ago

McAlpine breaks ground at £1.25bn Port Talbot green steel job

Port Talbot switch to scrap-powered production by 2027
3 days ago

Cappagh lands £136m Portsmouth Water deals

Utility specialist wins AMP8 contracts for infrastructure and smart meters
3 days ago

Rethink over “anti-dumping” tariffs on Chinese diggers

Fair trade body reconsiders ruling after lobbying by manufacturers
3 days ago

Sparks agree near 4% wage increase from 2026

Top hourly rate in London to rise to £26.70 under JIB deal
3 days ago

Morgan Sindall to build new Cambridgeshire school

Latest win for contractor at Alconbury Weald development
3 days ago

BSR backlog swells as new build approvals run to 36 weeks

First official Government figures expose full extent of Gateway project logjam
6 days ago

Repair slowdown drags down construction output

New work activity rises in May despite overall 0.6% output fall
6 days ago

Equans suffers £29m loss as new build exit drags on

Refocused retrofit contractor still dogged by legacy losses despite profitable core work
6 days ago