Bosses sentenced over firm’s ‘deliberate deceit’

Two family members who ran a Bath-based building company that defrauded homeowners of tens of thousands of pounds have been sentenced following a Bath and North East Somerset Council Trading Standards investigation.

One victim of Edward’s Group Ltd faced financial ruin as they had to rent out another property for several months after their home was rendered uninhabitable.

Another victim had saved for 10 years to have a barn built before facing a nightmare experience with the building company following a fire at the site.

The victims have been repaid nearly £43,000.

Edward’s Group Ltd found the two homeowners on the council’s planning portal and wrote to them offering building services.

Gary Southam, 58, of St Julian’s Road, Shoscombe, Bath, trading as Edward’s Group Ltd, was sentenced on Friday, May 29, at Bristol Crown Court to 21 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to do 250 hours of community service and is disqualified from becoming the director of a company for nine years.

Southam had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing in September 2019 to fraudulent trading, misleading two homeowners and being involved in the management of a company while being an undischarged bankrupt.

At a sentencing hearing in November 2019 Southam’s sentence was deferred for six months as he offered to raise £43,000 compensation, which he did.

Josephine Nunan, 31, of Nalder Close, Shepton Mallet, who is Southam’s daughter and the director of Edward’s Group Ltd, was also put before the court.

She pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to misleading a homeowner and knowingly or recklessly contravening the requirements of professional diligence.

She was sentenced to carry out 150 hours of community service.

The court also ordered that the defendants pay £6,500 towards prosecution costs.

Edward’s Group Ltd approached the two homeowners, who agreed for building work to be carried out between July 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018. Southam put himself forward as the owner of the company and failed to inform both homeowners he was an undischarged bankrupt, having been made bankrupt on three previous occasions and was banned from promoting or managing a company until 2025.

The first victim agreed to have an extension built for £66,000, paying Edward’s Group Ltd more than £53,000 in total, but much work was left incomplete.

The company went into liquidation during the build. A chartered surveyor valued the work that had been completed at more than £25,000, below what the homeowners had paid.

The homeowner had to rent out another property for several months as their home was uninhabitable and faced financial ruin.

A second victim agreed to have a barn built by Edward’s Group Ltd for around £17,450 after saving for nearly ten years to pay for it.

After the barn was nearly built and £14,121 had been paid by the victim, a fire occurred which caused severe damage to the barn.

Edward’s Group Ltd told the homeowners their company insurance would cover the fire damage and promised to rebuild the barn.

Edward’s Group Ltd were paid in full by their insurance company around a week after the fire, but days later Nunan told the homeowners they were still waiting for an update on the claim.

Six months after the money was paid, Nunan told the homeowner that there had been a payment from the insurance company but only to cover the clearing of the site of the fire-damaged barn.

Southam also told the homeowners that he’d had meetings with the insurers in relation to the claim, but no meetings had taken place as the insurance claim had already been paid.

In his sentencing remarks to Gary Southam, his Honour Judge Longman said: “Your deliberate deceit not only caused a substantial financial loss to the victims but it also had a high mental impact on them. One can only imagine the stress you put the victims under due to your offending.”

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for community services at B&NES Council, said: “The victims in this case were all left thousands of pounds out of pocket prior to our investigation. The conviction and sentencing of these individuals reiterate our ongoing pledge to bringing justice to individuals and companies that are happy to defraud the public.

“We are committed to helping keep people and their money safe from rogue traders. Those who commit such crimes do not care how they leave a property and do not care about the financial impact this has on the victims as a result of their actions.”

The trading standards team runs an approved trader scheme called Buy with Confidence where residents can search for local businesses which have been vetted and approved by Trading Standards.

Visit bathnes.gov.uk or call 01225 396759.

❝ One can only imagine the stress you put the victims under due to your offending Honour Judge Longman