Amberley Knight Ltd, a land banking company in Milton Keynes, has been wound-up by the High Court, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Between July 2007 and September 2013, the company sold 97 plots of land at an average of £7,700 apiece, via a nationwide cold calling strategy.

The land derived from 158 plots that were subdivided from a larger piece of land that was purchased by the Amberley Knight Director and an associate for £64,173.

The investigation discovered however that the development Amberley was advertising was actually heavily restricted under Local Authority’s planning guidelines, as it was within a ‘green belt’ zone.

The company had contacted the Local Authority in general terms only, despite claiming that it had conducted thorough research indicating that the land was likely to obtain planning consent.

There was no evidence that Amberley had ever obtained professional advice on the likelihood of obtaining planning permission or the prospects for development.

Amberley’s marketing strategy immensely exaggerated its experience, claiming that its expert team provided clients with profitable land investment opportunities by identifying prime land sites across the UK with the potential for development.

The claimed returns for investors were overstated and unrealistic.

This was from a total of 158 plots subdivided from a larger piece of land purchased from its director and an associate for £64,173.

In winding the company up, the High Court accepted the Secretary of State’s evidence that the Amberley lacked commercial probity and that there was a distinct lack of commercial benefit to its customers.

The court also observed that customers thought that they were dealing with a company of vast experience, whereas Amberley actually had significantly less experience than it claimed.

Commenting on the case, Scott Crighton, Investigation Supervisor at the Insolvency Service, said: “Directors of companies who set out to market investment opportunities to the public on the basis of false or misleading information should be aware that the Insolvency Service can and will take rigorous action to stamp out their activities.”.