A filing on Companies House shows that Blackmore Bond has again exploited the accounting-period-shortening trick to extend the date that its accounts are due.
Blackmore Bond plc should have filed its December 2018 accounts by June 2019, but used the one-day-shortening loophole to legally delay filing accounts for three months. That three months expired on Friday 27th and on the very same day, right in the nick of time, Blackmore Bond electronically submitted a further adjustment.
Blackmore cites the resignation of its auditor, Grant Thornton, as the reason for its failure to file accounts in a timely fashion.
Blackmore has come under heavy scrutiny since the collapse of London Capital and Finance, with more attention paid to relatively small payments of quarterly interest (relative to the amount Blackmore has taken in) than any other investment company I can think of.
Immediately after London Capital and Finance was shut down by the FCA, Blackmore replaced LCF at the top of Surge’s Top Isa Rates and Best Interest Rates websites. Given the level of undesired publicity it has received as a result, this marketing strategy has arguably backfired.
Blackmore has now stopped accepting investment from UK investors and, almost uniquely for a UK-based investment company, only accepts investment from outside the UK, via its Blackmore International website.
Would I be forgiven for thinking something’s up with Blackmore Bonds plc?
Last year (2018), they they shortened the accounting period by one day, from 31 Dec 2017 to 30 Dec 2017, buying 3 months grace from March to June 2018 to file accounts. In June 2018 they did indeed publish audited accounts – their auditors were Grant Thornton. Those accounts on page 2, final paragraph quotes the infamous Surge Financial as their strategic partner. Already alarm bells should be ringing.
The auditors stated on page 10, that in their opinion the financial statements indicate a material uncertainty that casts “significant” doubt of the group’s ability to continue as a going concern. Alarm bells ringing now?
Their next filing of the accounts was to be June 2019, and guess what, yep the accounting period shortened by 1 day from 30 Dec to 29 Dec … buying 3 months to Sep 2019. Grant Thornton resigned. Come 30th Sep – yep, shortened again from 29th Dec to 28th Dec buying 3 more months to Dec 2019. My advice, don’t hold your breath!
Earlier this year, Blackmore Bonds stopped taking new business, that despite the last accounts stating they required £1.5m new business per month to meet their contractual commitments. Then in August 2019, Brev reported – off the back of reports in the Telegraph and Money Marketing – Blackmore Bonds missed due interest payments.
Does all this sound like a healthy company to you?
There’s more ….
In last year’s accounts, pages 3-5, 11 property development projects are listed as on the go. The “most ambitious” (their words) being a development in Stevenage, comprising 64 apartments. It was reported by one of the local rags, The Comet, on 10th May 2018 – https://www.thecomet.net/news/stevenage-town-centre-regeneration-work-to-start-on-18-million-flats-1-5511153 – Blackmore’s Ricky Poonia is quoted as saying it was one of their flagship developments scheduled for completion late 2019. There is an artist’s illustration in the Comet article. Check it out. The corner of the building to the right is a pre-existing building called Six Hills house. Once an office block but converted to residential. I took a snapshot from Google satellite view of the area before construction – https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ccXM-ykionVRTw61MyVQJ901CW0mEdry – the building in the centre is the existing building and Blackmore’s building is going in the car park on the end.
I should really drive down and see it, it’s about 20 miles from me. I feel we are now in “late 2019” so there should be a building, with flats and a show flat even. One more thing, this 8 storey block of 64 apartments comes with just 32 car park spaces! Make your own conclusion on how that will go down with buyers!
Any readers near Stevenage could look and report back on its status – that would save me a 40 mile round trip!
The Blackmore bonds website shows just 1 project, Alston Bank, Ribble Valley. They have another website, Blackmore Homes – https://blackmorehomes.com/live-developments/ – with a section titled “live” Developments. This site lists just 6 developments, as of October 3rd 2019, and none of these six are their flagship project in Stevenage! The only one reported as “75% Sold” is their Church conversion (St. Augustine’s) in Cheadle Heath.
Would you not expect their flagship project, due for completion about now, to take centre place on their website? Why doesn’t it?
Blackmore Bonds was incorporated on 12th July 2016 by Phillip Nunn & Patrick McCreesh and operated out of Albion Wharf, Manchester, the very place they began their nefarious activities as far back as 2011/12 as Nunn McCreesh LLP and also It’s Your Pension Ltd., introducing victims to the Capita Oak & Henley pension scams, earning themselves almost £1m.
Since then they’ve shut down those companies, then started Aspinal Chase ( now shut down and they’ve erased almost all trace of their involvement!) plus Pensions & Life UK Ltd, where they introduced dozens of people to their own fund, Blackmore Global – an Unregulated Collective registered in the Isle of Man – in association with unregulated adviser(s) Aktiva Wealth Management (later renamed Square Mile International Financial, then renamed Michalska Holdings and now Planet Pensions!). Dozens of UK pensions were transferred into Blackmore Global via offshore QROPS – Kreston (Isle of Man) Optimus Retirement Benefits No.1 (Malta) and GFS (Hong Kong) and lord knows where else.
Now they run Blackmore Bonds, which is speculated by many to be travelling in the same orbit as LC&F. Blackmore’s constant antics with the loophole in the accounting period to avoid publsihing its accounts; resignation of their auditors; no mention of the status of its developments including its flagship project that should be complete or very near it by now; its association with Surge Financial, the promoter of LC&F; its late payment of the July interest … none of these things promote confidence of a well run company that will still be around in 2020! If you’re an investor – be very concerned.
Further to my comment, check out what real investors in Blackmore are discovering ….
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/blackmorebonds.co.uk?languages=en&stars=1
Healthy, successful company? You decide ….