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Door-Stop Steps Up After Safestyle Crashes
Door-Stop International has stepped in after warning that the livelihoods of hundreds of skilled installers have been put at risk in the wake of Safestyle...
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Get ’Em Off – ‘New’ Safestyle Told To Stop Using Trusted Logos
An intervention by The Installer has seen Safestyle, now owned by Anglian Home improvements, told to stop using GGF, FENSA and TrustMark logos in its promotions as it has no right to do so.
HPAS Limited went into administration at the end of 2023 with the loss of 750 jobs. Safestyle UK, Style Group Holdings and Style Group UK were trading names of that company.
The administrators, Interpath Advisory, agreed to sell Anglian Home Improvements Safestyle UK’s order book, brand and certain other assets – but not HPAS Limited and thus not the companies.
Anglian has recreated a Safestyle website – dropping the UK from the brand name whilst boasting 48,000 Trustpilot reviews and using the GGF, FENSA & BFRC logos to suggest it is a member of the most recognisable organisations this industry has to offer. The site also uses the TrustMark logo – the logo of the UK’s only government-endorsed quality scheme.
Intervention
Eagle-eyed journalists from The Installer and sister publication, The Fabricator, realised what was going on and wrote to each of the organisations – and Anglian Home Improvements – to ask if this was legit.
The Installer and The Fabricator have a duty to protect their readers (who work incredibly hard to maintain their accreditations) and to make sure ‘imposters’ don’t simply appropriate logos and pass themselves off as accredited members of organisations that are trusted by UK property owners. The organisations themselves work tirelessly to prevent rogue traders from unscrupulously claiming memberships – the battle is normally taking small firms to task…not household names.
Questions to GGF, FENSA & BFRC and TrustMark
This is what The Installer posed: ‘We see Safestyle (a company that went out of business a few months ago) has been resurrected by the new owners of the brand (Anglian).
’I am surprised to see that not only does the new Safestyle website make no mention of the company’s recent demise and the havoc it caused, it still claims a 30 year unblemished reputation and is exulted by its Trustpilot reviews.
’It also displays TrustMark, GGF, FENSA and BFRC logos. Can you tell me if this has been sanctioned by the respective organisations and if so, how does a new entity, simply assume what should be hard won credentials?’
Reply – TrustMark
‘Safestyle were deregistered as a TrustMark Registered Business on 30th October 2023 following their going into administration.
’In line with our Framework Operating Requirements and Code of Conduct, which all TrustMark Registered Businesses adhere to, we will be contacting Anglian Home Improvements in regard to removal of the TrustMark logo from the Safestyle website’.
TrustMark expressed its thanks to The Installer for bringing the matter to its attention.
Reply – GGF, FENSA, BFRC
‘We have been in touch with Anglian regarding this unique scenario. We have requested that they remove the logos from the website in accordance with our operating procedures’.
TrustPilot
The Installer also wrote the following to TrustPilot’s UK CEO, Adrian Blair and his press department: ‘Safestyle UK went out of business in the last quarter of 2023. A former competitor, Anglian Home Improvements bought the company's brand and order book. However, it is now trading Safestyle as if nothing ever happened – according to a new Safestyle website, it is a trustworthy company with over 30 years of solid trading. It's Trustpilot reviews are impeccable. [The site only shows 5-star reviews.]
‘Fair to say, if one clicks through to read further Trustpilot reviews on the Trustpilot site, many are not as complimentary.
‘Question: 'Is this right, that what is in effect a new company, can use reviews of an old company under the Trustpilot brand?'
Blair and his press advisors committed to a response but thus far none has been received.
No comment
Anglian Home Improvements was also written to but failed to comment. As at the morning of 22 January 2024, the Safestyle website still carries the offending logos and reviews.
The new Anglian-Safestyle entity may be eligible to apply for FENSA Membership in due course but is unlikely to be eligible to join the GGF as this is strictly for established companies with trading histories not fully-owned brands. Anglian Home improvements displays the GGF and TrustMark logos in its own right.
Picture: The Safestyle website must remove FENSA and TrustMark logos after The Installer intervened.
Article written by Brian Shillibeer
23rd January 2024