Shropshire man sentenced for £1.6m home improvement fraud

A builder from Shropshire has been sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to 3 years and 9 months imprisonment for running a fraudulent home improvement company which left victims with unfinished work, turning their homes into building sites and costing thousands in repairs.

Jones was also disqualified from being a company director for a further 10 years having already been the subject of a disqualification order.

Adam Jones (41), lately of New Road, Crickhowell, Newport, South Wales, previously pleaded guilty to running Advannnced Construction Ltd for fraudulent purposes.

Between April 2021 and June 2023, Jones mis-sold home improvements to consumers across the West Midlands, which left them out of pocket to the tune of £1.6m for work that was either done poorly or not finished at all.

The defendant was prosecuted following an investigation led by the National Trading Standards Regional Investigations Team (Central England), which is hosted by Birmingham City Council.

Jones enticed consumers with false promises and a seemingly reasonable payment plan to sign up to contracts ranging from £7,000 to £163,000. However, he tied them into weekly payments which he then demanded aggressively, even if no work had been carried out that week.

One victim paid over £70,000 for a two-storey extension and has instead been left with a single storey breeze block shell. Two deep holes where footings should be fill with water when it rains. His roof was damaged and now leaks water and previously installed solar panels no longer work. The victim has been quoted up to £130,000 to complete the build.

Large upfront payments from new customers allowed Jones to drip feed small sums into older projects, sending in contractors to do the bare minimum work to maintain the illusion that the job was continuing and thereby justify demands for his weekly payments.

Several victims also made additional upfront payments totalling £120,000 for Jones to buy diggers, dumper trucks and grab lorries to complete the work. However, Jones never purchased them and instead used the money to fund his lavish lifestyle of luxury properties and vehicles before returning to demand more money.

He also persuaded two victims to pay him an additional £19,800 on the pretence that additional work was required to obtain Building Control approval; when in fact this was false, and no extra work was completed.

When victims raised questions about the work – citing huge delays and extended periods where no workers or materials were on site – Jones resorted to intimidation by threatening to withdraw his workers.

Jones has a history of similar trading, having been sentenced in June 2023 to 20 months' imprisonment for offences carried out under a different company name. Much of the offending he committed as ‘Advannnced Construction Ltd’ was done whilst he was awaiting trial or sentencing for this earlier case.

Councillor Sam Forsyth, Chair of the Licensing and Public Protection Committee, Birmingham City Council, said:

“This is a shocking case with people scammed out large sums of money by someone they thought they could trust, only for him to use their hard-earned savings to fund his lavish lifestyle. I hope this sentence sends a clear warning that we will investigate and prosecute this sort of behaviour. Well done to everyone involved in bringing this man to justice.”

Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of National Trading Standards, said:

“Fobbing victims off with lies and false promises, the defendant used aggressive sales practices to demand cash from his victims on a weekly basis for work that was either never started, left incomplete or was wholly deficient.

“Mr Jones had no qualms about indulging himself with top-of-the-range vehicles and living in a luxurious barn conversion off the back of what was effectively a pyramid scheme which left consumers thousands of pounds out of pocket.

“I hope that today’s ruling sends a strong message that this type of offending does not go unpunished. If you or someone you know has fallen victim to a fraud like this, you should report it to the Citizens Advice consumer service helpline by calling 0808 223 1133.”