Telecoms kit supplier shut down for carrying on work of two firms that had been... shut down

A Leicester-based IT supplier has been closed down after it carried on the work of two companies that courts said had traded in an improper manner.

The UK government today announced that Bradwell Communications, which lists its business as the wholesale of electronic and telecommunications equipment and other telecoms activities, was wound up in the public interest.

According to the Insolvency Service, Bradwell Communications had been carrying on the work of two firms that watchdogs had already sought to shut down.

Direct United (Services) and Fibre Tex were found to have "operated with a lack of transparency and had traded in an improper manner that resulted in both companies incurring significant liabilities".

They were closed down by the courts in April 2018, but investigators found that Bradwell Communications had continued the trade and operations of both.

However, their efforts to probe the company – or even find out who was in control – were hampered because it "lacked transparency and failed to produce books and records".

In addition, the Insolvency Service said that its investigators were "unable to substantiate the company's filed accounts" that supposedly showed significant assets and retained profits.

They were also unable to verify transactions passing through the company's bank accounts, which had a value of about £270,000.

On Companies House listings for the three firms, it shows two directors involved in both Bradwell and one of the other firms: Laliji Mandalia is listed as having been a director for both Fibre Tex and Bradwell, while Uways Ali is listed for Direct United and Bradwell.

Mandalia has no other listed appointments, but Ali has seven – including two at dissolved companies (Thorpewood Homes and Digital Distributions), and two separate listings at a liquidated firm (UZ Consultants) as well as an active director role at a real estate biz, Mitchell Finance.

David Hope, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said in a statement that the closure of the latest firm should serve as a "strong warning" the service will act against companies that break the rules.

"Bradwell Communications and those individuals in control of it paid scant regard to their obligations and have sought to abuse the privileges that limited liability offers," he said.

The company was ordered to be wound up on 15 February at the High Court in Manchester. ®