news

There is good news for you. Last week, Santander said: ‘As Mr S has not been in this
position before, we have refunded the full £119 as a gesture of goodwill.’
You’re right to smell a rat Mrs C.L. writes: In the past eight days I have had almost daily
calls from two people in the United States who claim to be involved in a hostile takeover of
Essenden plc, which is what they say Georgica has become.
They say that as my husband’s beneficiary, I now hold 3,285 shares in Essenden and a
caller yesterday said they will pay me £13.70 per share. I smell a rat.
There is nothing wrong with your sense of smell. Essenden plc converted to a privately
owned limited company in 2015 and its most recent filing to Companies House shows it is
owned by just one shareholder.
Essenden Limited controls Georgica Limited and the group owns and operates a chain of
ten pin bowling alleys. Claims of a hostile takeover bid are nonsense.
All any would-be buyer need do is make a direct approach to the owner. Your callers are
fraudsters who will demand an up-front fee to cover legal costs or taxes. If you pay, you will
never hear from them again.