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Customers complained they did not receive the kitchens they had paid deposits for to Smart Choice Kitchens Limited and Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms Limited
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A phoenix company, Connect Kitchens Limited, was suspected of being set up to continue the same operation
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The three companies, connected by a shared director, were shut down in court following investigations by the Insolvency Service
A group of linked kitchen design and fitting companies based in Manchester have been shut down after taking upfront payments from more than 20 customers for products they did not provide.
Smart Choice Kitchens Limited, Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms Limited, and Connect Kitchens Limited were all wound-up at a hearing of the High Court in Manchester on Tuesday 4 February following an investigation by the Insolvency Service into their business practices which also identified a pattern of phoenixism.
The companies encouraged customers to make payments before the kitchens were delivered and installed.
They then failed to supply the kitchens and customers were left unable to obtain refunds.
A total of 21 customers complained to Action Fraud about the actions of Smart Choice Kitchens and Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms. Combined, the complainants had paid deposits of more than £50,000 to the two companies.
The victims all said that after paying a deposit, they were then falsely informed that the companies had gone into liquidation, or “went bankrupt”.
Insolvency Service investigators were also concerned that Connect Kitchens was acting as a successor company to Smart Choice Kitchens and Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms, putting consumers at risk of losing further sums of money due to phoenixism.
David Hope, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Our investigations into Smart Choice Kitchens and Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms concluded that they were taking money from customers for kitchens they never had any intention of fitting. The victims found out about the companies through Facebook or Google and were then treated in very similar ways, losing hundreds if not thousands of pounds.
We were concerned that Connect Kitchens was a phoenix company created to continue the same operation. Our concerns only increased when our investigations uncovered three previous companies run by the same director and her associate, all of which appeared to use the same objectionable and dishonest trading practices.
Phoenix companies being set up with the sole purpose of causing clear financial harm to the public will not be tolerated by the Insolvency Service.
Stopping these companies from trading will protect potential future victims, disrupt suspected fraudulent activity, and act as a deterrent to others considering a similar business model.
Smart Choice Kitchens, Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms, and Connect Kitchens were all established between November 2022 and July 2023.
The three companies shared a director, known as Toni Amana or Toni Amana Warrington.
Connect Kitchens appointed a second director in October 2024 but Warrington remained the sole person with significant control over the company.
Warrington and a known associate of hers were directors of three other companies which operated a similar business model to Smart Choice Kitchens, Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms, and Connect Kitchens.
Those three companies, Your Style Kitchens Ltd, Your Style Kitchens & Bathrooms Ltd, and Designer Kitchens and Bathrooms Limited, all stopped trading and were struck-off the Companies House register in August 2023, October 2023, and January 2024.
Bank statements obtained by the Insolvency Service for Smart Choice Kitchens and Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms revealed that the majority of payments were made to Warrington’s associate.
Warrington also failed to co-operate with the Insolvency Service’s investigations.
No accounting records were produced for any of the three companies and both Smart Choice Kitchens and Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms did not file accounts at Companies House on time.
The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator of Smart Choice Kitchens Limited, Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms Limited, and Connect Kitchens Limited.
All enquiries concerning the affairs of the three companies should be made to the Official Receiver of the Public Interest Unit: 16th Floor, 1 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ. Email: piu.or@insolvency.gov.uk.
