The boss of a major homeless housing provider left fellow directors of another property company “in the lurch” when he quit after being told to improve fire safety, a court heard yesterday.
Michael Blencowe responded to requests from East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service to make improvements to 13 Bedford Square in Brighton with “radio silence”, Brighton Magistrates Court was told.
Blencowe is also a director of Baron Homes, one of the council’s main suppliers of temporary accommodation. He is also a director of the company which is restoring Imperial Arcade and several companies connected to the Black Rock restaurant chain, which runs the Coal Shed, Burnt Orange and Tutto.
He set up 13 Bedford Square Ltd with Gamal Khalil in January 2016, and a few months later the company completed the purchase of the freehold of four-storey building for £30,000.
Its accounts filed with Companies House since incorporation say it has no assets.
One of the leaseholders of the four flats in the building, Arthur East, became a director of when he bought a share of the freehold in January 2024.
He has now been left facing a hefty court bill after the company pleaded guilty to breaching an enforcement notice issued by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS).
ESFRS first wrote to the company about faulty fire alarms and fire doors in the four-storey building’s communal areas after a complaint from a resident of one of its four flats in 2022.
Over several subsequent inspections, fire safety inspector Rachael Hurle found the fire alarms and emergency lighting were being run off a pre-pay meter – which on one visit only had 0.8p left and was topped up by one of the directors’ secretaries while the inspector was there.
She also found fire doors weren’t sealed properly, and various materials stored unsafely on landings. An enforcement notice was served in December 2022.
Subsequent inspections found little or no improvement and a fire risk assessment required by the notice was not provided until October 2023, six months after the deadline.
In January 2024, the same month East became a director, Blencowe quit – and Khalil quit in December last year, leaving East as the sole director and the only named person with significant control on Companies House.
In October last year, ESFRS launched a prosecution for not complying with the enforcement notice.
During a sentencing hearing yesterday, the court heard East has paid out of his own pocket to make the changes the fire service required.
He has not been billing any of the other leaseholders for ground rent or service charges until the court case is finished.
Prosecuting for ESFRS, David Claxton said: “The company was on notice for more than two years, and the issues persisted throughout that period.
“The company’s accounts state it has no assets which the fire service finds to be a difficult situation to square with what it knows about the status of the freehold.
“It purchased the freehold to that address in 2016. It has legal responsibilities in respect of the premises, for example fire risk assessments.
“Presumably it was purchased because it was believed to be an economic asset. It’s difficult to believe that a company which owns the freehold isn’t raising money by means of ground rent and service charges from the leaseholders.”
Defending, Kyle Fournillier said: “We accept that two years is a significant period of time. It’s not for want of attempts to comply with the notice.
“Mr Blencowe was the main director charged with dealing with matters of property management for safety risks. Initially the fire service wrote to him, and that received radio silence.
“When the matter was brought to the attention of Mr Khalil he then sought to take on a different portfolio within the company and provided responses.
“Mr Blencowe simply left the rest of the directors in the lurch. Mr East was not involved in any significant capacity.
“In the end Khalil too resigned and Mr East has taken it upon himself to bring the property up to compliance.”
He said Khalil had attempted to comply, but was hampered by a serious accident he had in 2023, followed by a lengthy convalescence.
He also had issues getting hold of leaseholders to get materials left in communal areas moved.
He said: “In the past there was a management company for the building and Mr East was one of the leaseholders paying into a service charge fund. The money was paid specifically to make adequate fire safety measures within the building.
“When Khalil left, so did the management agents for the building.
“It’s a messy state of affairs.”
District judge Tessa Szagun reserved her judgement until the next hearing, which has been fixed for 9 April.
Holding hands and all singing the same tune
For me, this news confirms that moving away from private providers is the right choice for this council, even beyond the financial benefits.
Meanwhile a certain city Solicitors breached a Fire Order from East Sussex Fire Brigade for over six months placed on a tenanted property they were supposed to be managing as Exectors and were NOT prosecuted. One rule for some but not for others…?