In what has been described as by the brewery as, "A complicated company restructure", it would appear that the brewery is still brewing, the assets of the Buckley Bros Brewing & Brands Ltd having been transferred to another company before liquidation, in what some might say sounds allegedly like a phoenix company fraud. Now the Brew Wales team are not going to be spending hours going through the various accounts of Buckley Bros Ltd, Welsh Estates Ltd or Beer Brands Ltd or whatever name the brewery is trading under this week, we shall leave that job to the forensic accountants who are no doubt sniffing around the remains of the liquidated company attempting to discover what has happened to investors money.
After the economic failure of Y Cadno, the flagship Evan Evans pub that was situated on Cathedral Road, Cardiff, one can only wonder how much longer this brewery will continue trading under any name.
Above: the state of one of Simon Buckley's companies, Beer Brands Ltd, according to Companies House
Below: Welsh Estates Ltd, again from Companies House
Hardly a healthy state of affairs for any company director to be proud of?
The Brew Wales editor did attempt to contact Simon Buckley at the brewery, only to be told by someone at the plant in Llandeilo that he was out of contact as he was "On his annual Christmas shopping trip to New York"!
Nice for some!
Update:
Simon Buckley banned as acting as a company director:
Case details for SIMON BUCKLEY
Name: SIMON BUCKLEY
Name: Welsh Estates Limited
Date of Birth: 1957-09-02 00:00:00.000
Date Order Starts: 2014-10-20 00:00:00.000
Disqualification Length: 3 Years 0 Month(s)
CRO Number: 05219412
Last Known Address: 2 Abbey Terrace, , , , Llandeilo, SA19 6BD
Conduct: (i) Mr Simon Buckley failed to ensure that Welsh Estates Limited (“Welsh Estates”) complied with its statutory obligations to HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) to file timely returns and make payments from at least 01 November 2007 to the date of liquidation on 26 January 2011. HMRC’s final Value Added Tax (“VAT”) claim at liquidation was £590,522. In particular:
• VAT returns totalling £147,115 for 13 monthly periods from September 2007 to January 2008, March 2008 to August 2008 and November and December 2008, were not submitted until 2 and 3 April 2009. The oldest outstanding return for the period September 2007 was therefore filed 17 months late, with the earliest outstanding return for the period December 2008 filed 2 months late. HMRC were unaware of these liabilities until those dates, previously considered them to total £40,764 in central assessments.
• According to HMRC's records no returns were submitted for the months January and February 2009, December 2009 and February 2010 to October 2010 leading to assessments of £325,810. • HMRC raised surcharges totalling £90,078 in respect of the late and non-filed returns of which £67,740 remains unpaid. • From 15 February 2008 to 07 October 2009 HMRC received payments from Welsh Estates totalling £115,750 in respect of VAT. Nothing was paid after 07 October 2009, although the company continued trading until October 2010, leading to estimated arrears before surcharges at liquidation of at least £354,162.
• If all payments are set against the earliest VAT debt there is still £14,325 due for August 2008, payable in full by 30 September 2008.
(ii) He caused Welsh Estates Limited (“Welsh Estates”) to trade to the detriment of HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) from at least 01 January 2010 until cessation of trade on or around 31 October 2010 in respect of Value Added Tax (“VAT”) estimated at £156,031.
In particular:
• On 31 December 2009 Welsh Estates had VAT arrears of £126,756. It subsequently incurred additional VAT liabilities of £156,031. The last payment made by Welsh Estates in respect of VAT was received on 07 October 2009.
• Bank payments were made between 01 January 2010 and 31 October 2010 of £1,740,796 of which nothing was paid to HMRC in respect of VAT. • Company records show that trade creditors decreased by £256,171 from 01 January 2010 to 31 October 2010 whilst the outstanding VAT increased by £156,031 in the same period.
This information is correct as at 2014-10-13 00:00:00.000
Update:
Simon Buckley banned as acting as a company director:
Case details for SIMON BUCKLEY
Name: SIMON BUCKLEY
Name: Welsh Estates Limited
Date of Birth: 1957-09-02 00:00:00.000
Date Order Starts: 2014-10-20 00:00:00.000
Disqualification Length: 3 Years 0 Month(s)
CRO Number: 05219412
Last Known Address: 2 Abbey Terrace, , , , Llandeilo, SA19 6BD
Conduct: (i) Mr Simon Buckley failed to ensure that Welsh Estates Limited (“Welsh Estates”) complied with its statutory obligations to HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) to file timely returns and make payments from at least 01 November 2007 to the date of liquidation on 26 January 2011. HMRC’s final Value Added Tax (“VAT”) claim at liquidation was £590,522. In particular:
• VAT returns totalling £147,115 for 13 monthly periods from September 2007 to January 2008, March 2008 to August 2008 and November and December 2008, were not submitted until 2 and 3 April 2009. The oldest outstanding return for the period September 2007 was therefore filed 17 months late, with the earliest outstanding return for the period December 2008 filed 2 months late. HMRC were unaware of these liabilities until those dates, previously considered them to total £40,764 in central assessments.
• According to HMRC's records no returns were submitted for the months January and February 2009, December 2009 and February 2010 to October 2010 leading to assessments of £325,810. • HMRC raised surcharges totalling £90,078 in respect of the late and non-filed returns of which £67,740 remains unpaid. • From 15 February 2008 to 07 October 2009 HMRC received payments from Welsh Estates totalling £115,750 in respect of VAT. Nothing was paid after 07 October 2009, although the company continued trading until October 2010, leading to estimated arrears before surcharges at liquidation of at least £354,162.
• If all payments are set against the earliest VAT debt there is still £14,325 due for August 2008, payable in full by 30 September 2008.
(ii) He caused Welsh Estates Limited (“Welsh Estates”) to trade to the detriment of HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) from at least 01 January 2010 until cessation of trade on or around 31 October 2010 in respect of Value Added Tax (“VAT”) estimated at £156,031.
In particular:
• On 31 December 2009 Welsh Estates had VAT arrears of £126,756. It subsequently incurred additional VAT liabilities of £156,031. The last payment made by Welsh Estates in respect of VAT was received on 07 October 2009.
• Bank payments were made between 01 January 2010 and 31 October 2010 of £1,740,796 of which nothing was paid to HMRC in respect of VAT. • Company records show that trade creditors decreased by £256,171 from 01 January 2010 to 31 October 2010 whilst the outstanding VAT increased by £156,031 in the same period.
This information is correct as at 2014-10-13 00:00:00.000
This might explain why I recently had a fellow come round from the brewery offering me beer at a very competitive price with the added bonus of 3-4-2 offer thrown in. Obviously, as it's Evan Evans beer I didn't touch it...
ReplyDeleteDon't ever let facts get in the way of a good story hay Daley !
ReplyDeleteEr JB they are the facts and it is a good story!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid there not Daley and if you had bothered to do some research, you would be aware of that. I suggest if you want actual facts you should contact Robert Lloyd and whilst your there maybe he can give you some pointer on writing a fair and balanced blog.
ReplyDeleteArfur, hate to tell you this but the cricketers is just a new name for the same pub the same rubbish food the same beer.
ReplyDeleteIts just been rebranded.
I always think of Simon Buckley as a guy whose heart is in the right place and his head isn't. Or maybe I'm wrong?
ReplyDeleteWould JB actually be a Mr Buckley the cask lifting brewer?
ReplyDeleteJB or should that be James Buckley?
ReplyDeleteRobert Lloyd is employed by your family as an apologist, trying to cover up the dodgy business dealings done by Evan Evans Brewery employees.
A colleague of mine did contact him but it was after lunch and he did have a problem understanding a phoenix fraud but instead tried to spin some crap about a new addition to the family.
Would you like to go on the record to confirm or deny that assets were transferred from Buckley Bros Ltd before liquidation?
Whilst I respect everyones, right to freedom of speech is there a particular reason why you feel the need to persicute my family Arfur. Your articles and comments aren’t just gripes at my fathers expense it’s at all of us, it is a family business we all work in it and to the best of my knowledge nor I , my brother or sister have done anything to warrant these types of verbal attacks. They are exceptionally viscous and completely unwarranted
ReplyDelete(I've put my name on to this comment to save the guess work!)
Sophy
ReplyDeleteWould you like to confirm or deny that assets were transferred to another company before Buckley Bros Ltd went into liquidation?
That's not persecution but asking a valid question.
You talk about persecution but it is your family members who have even set up a website to attack me, all because I chose to report the truth about cask thieving and the other unethical business practises carried on by 'thieving gypos' as your father chooses to liken your family to.
Sophy Buckley got pregnant by the chef from Y Cadno, David Humphreys, who she knew full well was in a relationship and had just had a baby with his girlfriend. She got herself pregnant when he tried to break off the affair and destroyed many lives. Good to see the business is doing so well.
ReplyDeleteHardly her fault? More likely to be bad parenting and the way she was brought up?
ReplyDelete