Directors banned after firm's 461,000 cold calls

The Insolvency Service's investigation found 461,062 unsolicited marketing calls were made by the firm

Two men whose company made hundreds of thousands of nuisance cold calls have been banned from being directors.

Mohammed Liaqat, 37, and Rubani Ghulam, 55, were appointed directors of home improvements firm Posh Windows UK Ltd - based on Cheapside in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent - in 2018.

The company was found to have made 461,062 unsolicited marketing calls between August 2020 and April 2021 and was fined £150,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in 2022.

Posh Windows UK Ltd went into liquidation without paying the fine and, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, the pair were handed a four-year disqualification on Thursday.

The Insolvency Service said the calls were made to people who had registered with the Telephone Preference Service – a register of people who did not want to receive marketing calls.

Investigators said pressure tactics were used and constant calls were made, often outside standard business hours.

Some callers were called more than 10 times, the Insolvency Service said, even after the company was told to stop.

'Complete disregard'

Andy Curry, head of investigations at the ICO, said: "Nobody should be made to feel uncomfortable or distressed after simply answering the phone.

"Our investigation found that this company showed complete disregard for both the law and the thousands of people they were aggressively pestering."

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted disqualification undertakings – voluntary disqualifications - from Liaqat, of Clarke Street, Stoke-on-Trent, and Ghulam, of Thorndyke Street, Stoke-on-Trent, and their bans started on Thursday.

The disqualifications forbid them from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company without court permission.