EXACTLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE FUNDS OF INVESTORS IN COLLINS & BONE?

In this article, Intelligent Finance Services (IFS) is on a fact-finding mission, researching the background of C&B.

Here, for your interest and information, are two views of what appears to be the ‘nerve centre’ of various companies including Collins and Bone. It is the address of David Bone, Senior’s companies and the Collins & Bone Partnership. In the text below, marked with an asterisk, we give a list of the companies using this address. 

1 Eastern Villa, Springfield Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

We at IFS are wondering whether the loans we made to Collins & Bone have in fact been channelled into the larger property-dealing network being operated by Castle & Gatehouse and Novocastria Properties from the above address. 

So far, we have discovered that there have been many limited companies with David Bone, Sr., Liam Collins and David Bone, Jr., as directors, that have been formed and liquidated over the past few years. Here, from the records of Companies House, follows a list of those companies, with Liam Collins and David Bone, Jr., as directors of the first three. 

06805023 COMPLETE BUILDING SOLUTIONS (NORTH EAST) LTD in Liquidation 29/01/2009 - 13/10/2010 

06310795 STUDENT HMO PROPERTIES LTD   VCL–Liquidation 12/07/2007-18/12/2009 previously CBS Properties UK Ltd.

06310491  STUDENT HMO GROUP UK LIMITED  in Liquidation 12/07/2007 28/06/2011 previously CBS Group UK Ltd.

The following company is listed as having three directors: Mr D. Bone,  (presumably David Bone Sr.) Mr D.J. Bone and Mr. L.J. Collins ( see http://bizzy.co.uk/uk/05824659/student-hmo-lettings), leaving debts totalling £1,680,520.  (a copy of the Liquidator's Statement can be emailed by request)

05824659  STUDENT HMO LETTINGS LTD   in Liquidation 22 /05/ 2006 -17/06/2011 previously CBS Lettings Ltd. previously Living Large Ltd.

Under the name 'Student HMO' there are 3 other companies, which have David Bone Sr as director. See asterik  below to see other companies he is director of.

06930738  STUDENT HMO ADMINISTRATION LTD Dissolved 29/06/2009 - 09/08/2011 CBS Administration Ltd

06878414 STUDENT HMO SYNDICATES LTD   Dissolved 10/12/2009—26/07/2011 CBS Syndicate Ltd..

06832018 STUDENT HMO JV LTD , Active  27/02/2009- present, previously CBS (FRANKLYNN) LTD.

We, IFS,  have purchased  Liquidator's Statements concerning two companies of theirs in liquidation, Students HMO Lettings Ltd and Complete Building Solutions (North East) Ltd.; these show unsecured debts of £1,680,520 and £70, 814. 

*Here is a list of some of the companies whose business address is Eastern Villa, Station Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It is the same address as for the  Collins and Bone Partnership. 

CASTLE & GATEHOUSE LIMITED 07015798

CBS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LIMITED 06812033

CBS RENOVATIONS LIMITED 06812127

DIGGS LIMITED 07081209

NOVOCASTRIA BUILDING MAINTENANCE  LIMITED 07302220

NOVOCASTRIA DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED 07238747

NOVOCASTRIA PORTFOLIOS LIMITED 07259630

STUDENT HMO ADMINISTRATION LTD 06930738

STUDENT HMO SYNDICATES LTD 06878414

 David Bone Sr is or has been a director of all the above named companies. See this link.

http://bizzy.co.uk/uk/06832018/student-hmo-jv 

07365820 PATRICK PROPERTIES MANAGEMENT LTD      Patrick Collins Director

NOVOCASTRIA DEVELOPMENTS LTD. HAD A CONTRACT WITH MATTERHORN CAPITAL  

Companies House records show Novocastria Developments Limited,  07238747, with David Bone Sr and Mark Black as directors. It was incorporated 29 April 2010 and is still operating.

Novocastria began a loan arrangement with Matterhorn Capital in the sum of £20 million. (Copy available by request) Matterhorn Capital is also the company with which Collins and Bone said that they were negotiating a loan of £20,000,000 and which they claim let them down.

THE CASTLE & GATEHOUSE CONNECTION

In a circular sent to investors on November 2011, Liam Collins wrote, 'The other areas of our family business include Castle & Gatehouse and formerly Diggs Lettings but this is now going into administration. Not an issue though as there are no investors in this simply because we are finding lettings to be a huge drain on the resources at present.'  Yet, when we put some information about Castle & Gatehouse and Diggs Lettings on the Collins & Bone Investors' Blog, Liam Collins objected saying:

1. 'Diggs Lets has nothing to do with myself or David, so for legal reasons please take down all references to Diggs.'

2. Liam Collins continued, 'Castle & Gatehouse is owned by Mark Black and David Bone, Sr. It has nothing at all to do with Collins & Bone or your investment from a legal standpoint.'  

The above seems to directly contradict the Castle & Gatehouse brochure we were sent in 2010 which shows both Liam Collins & David Bone as DIRECTORS, as well as a host of paid staff!  Here are three of the pages:

Further, Liam Collins wrote, on18th March 2011, the 'trading inside our sister company C&G (Castle & Gatehouse) also acts as security with future contracts worth in excess of £3m at present'. As noted above, we are wondering whether the investors' money has been swallowed up into Castle & Gatehouse, owned and run by David Bone, Senior.

There are two property companies  listed under Diggs at Companies House, namely, Diggs Limited and Diggs Maintanence Ltd, whose directors are David Bone Sr and Rachel Bone respectively.

Are we beginning to see a pattern here, that of soliciting investments for an enterprise that not long after fails and goes into liquidation? The invested money is unaccounted for, so far. Is all or some of it simply being used to support the lifestyles of the Collins family and the Bone family, or is it being siphoned into a web of property speculation?