THE FINANCIAL FACTORY
Owned by Brian Boyd, The Financial Factory was responsible for encouraging many of their clients to put money into Harlequin Properties by giving them free trips to their resorts in the Caribbean.
However, the company didn’t explain to them that these investments were unregulated and high risk, and so were only suitable for experienced investors or high net worth individuals. The company also failed to explain that the other company involved (The Property Factory) wasn’t authorised to give advice and was not regulated.
Final salary pension transfers were arranged using third party companies like 1 Stop Financial Solutions but the company owned by Mr Boyd is now closing down. According to the Financial Ombudsman Service, The Financial Factory stopped trading in 2016 and owned no assets. Despite of this, Brian Boyd continued to give financial advice to clients and even collected trail fees for this.
The company asked for the cancellation of its Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation, meaning that it was no longer allowed to perform any activities that are regulated. Many of the company’s clients were given a false reassurance that an income would still be provided through Harlequin investments and Brian Boyd even helped clients to get back some of their losses. This was done in order to prevent them from making a complaint against The Financial Factory.
It was ruled by the ombudsman that the company acted negligently during the process of arranging transfers of pension into self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs). It was also found that The Financial Factory churned pensions, bonds, and ISAs so that all of its clients were treated fairly. Churning involves either the unnecessary or excessive changing of investments in order to produce commission.
If you believe that you were given the advice to either surrender or sell one / multiple investments and then replace them with something that had similar benefits, then churning may have happened. Any former clients that have received an email from NI Alternative Investments looking for business should have their case reviewed to see if they were given advice that was unsuitable,
Any advice that the company has given since 2016 is unregulated, thus leaving you with the protection provided by the FCA.
Company background (public record)
The company was incorporated at Companies House on 24 June 2008 under company number NI069707. Its status at Companies House is recorded as dissolved.
Registered office: 34 Dufferin Avenue, Bangor, Down, BT20 3AA.
Nature of business (SIC): 64999.
Company timeline (public record)
Key dated events for this firm, drawn from public records. Each entry shows its source.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jun 2008 | Company incorporated | Companies House |
| 24 Jun 2008 | Brian William Boyd appointed director | Companies House |
| 24 Jun 2008 | Theresa Dunlop appointed director | Companies House |
| 24 Jun 2008 | Cs Director Services Limited appointed corporate-director | Companies House |
| 24 Jun 2008 | Cs Director Services Limited resigned as corporate-director | Companies House |
| 30 Jul 2010 | Theresa Dunlop resigned as director | Companies House |
| 04 Jan 2011 | Brian William Boyd approved by the FCA at the firm | FCA Register |
| 06 Nov 2012 | John Edwin Spence approved by the FCA at the firm | FCA Register |
| 06 Jun 2014 | Company voluntary arrangement started (corporate voluntary arrangement) | Companies House |
| 03 Feb 2016 | Michael James Johnson approved by the FCA at the firm | FCA Register |
| 26 Feb 2016 | Christopher David Langton appointed director | Companies House |
| 04 Jul 2016 | Carole Aston appointed director | Companies House |
| 25 Jul 2016 | Christopher David Langton resigned as director | Companies House |
| 04 Aug 2016 | Carole Aston resigned as director | Companies House |
| 01 Sep 2016 | Christopher David Langton appointed director | Companies House |
| 23 Sep 2016 | Kamer Yasin appointed director | Companies House |
| 28 Sep 2016 | Company voluntary arrangement ended (corporate voluntary arrangement) | Companies House |
| 30 Sep 2016 | Kamer Yasin resigned as director | Companies House |
| 15 Feb 2017 | Christopher David Langton resigned as director | Companies House |
| 06 Jul 2018 | FCA status recorded as: No longer authorised | FCA Register |
| 14 Aug 2018 | Company dissolved | Companies House |
| 03 Sep 2018 | Declared in default by the FSCS | FSCS |
Who was involved?
The following individuals are listed on public records in connection with the firm. These are matters of public record only and their inclusion does not imply any wrongdoing by any named person.
- Michael James Johnson. Listed on the FCA Register as having held CF30 Customer (03/02/2016 to 06/07/2018) at the firm.
- John Edwin Spence. Listed on the FCA Register as having held CF30 Customer (06/11/2012 to 02/07/2015) at the firm.
- Brian William Boyd. Listed on the FCA Register as having held Responsibility for MCD Intermediation (17/11/2016 to 06/07/2018), Responsible for Insurance Mediation (04/01/2011 to 06/07/2018), CF30 Customer (04/01/2011 to 06/07/2018), CF11 Money Laundering Reporting (04/01/2011 to 06/07/2018) at the firm.
- Carole Aston. Listed at Companies House as director (appointed 2016-07-04, resigned 2016-08-04).
- Theresa Dunlop. Listed at Companies House as director (appointed 2008-06-24, resigned 2010-07-30).
- Christopher David Langton. Listed at Companies House as director (appointed 2016-09-01, resigned 2017-02-15).
- Christopher David Langton. Listed at Companies House as director (appointed 2016-02-26, resigned 2016-07-25).
- Kamer Yasin. Listed at Companies House as director (appointed 2016-09-23, resigned 2016-09-30).
- Cs Director Services Limited. Listed at Companies House as corporate-director (appointed 2008-06-24, resigned 2008-06-24).
Review page sources: FCA Register (FRN 530203) · Companies House (NI069707) · FSCS. Public records, provided for transparency.
