Two fraudsters who set up a million pound scam designed to rip off small businesses across the North of England were being sentenced by a court today.

The prosecution is the result of a year-long investigation headed by North Yorkshire County Council's Trading Standards Special Investigations Unit.

European Business Support and UK Business Grants Ltd made more than £1 million by taking fees of between £300 and £350 from an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 clients across the country.

Stephen Seddon, 33, of County Durham, was charged with two counts of fraudulent trading relating to the establishment of the two companies.

His partner William Lavery, 49, of Penrith, was charged with fraudulent trading relating to European Business Support Ltd.

In return for an up-front fee, companies were promised that a grant from European funding, national or local government would be found for them - or their fee would be refunded.

This "no lose" opportunity was sold to small businesses by telesales teams and salesmen cold-calling businesses and delivering what trading standards officers described as a very high-pressure sales pitch.

Those businesses who contracted with the companies run by Seddon and Lavery were never found any grants and no money was ever refunded.

The investigation was one of the largest and most complex ever undertaken by a trading standards service.

Gordon Gresty, head of trading standards and regulatory services in North Yorkshire, said: "The sentencing of these two men is the culmination of thousands of hours of dedicated work by trading standards officers from all over the country, but particularly those here in North Yorkshire.

"This has been one of the largest investigations ever undertaken by a trading standards service and reflects the scale of the fraud which these two individuals were perpetrating on small businesses across the country.

"Two companies were established with the cynical intention of taking money from hard-pressed small businesses through bogus promises of obtaining European grants or alternatively giving businesses their money back. There was never any intention other than lining their own pockets.

"One of the worst features of the whole scam was the way high-pressure selling techniques were used to pressurise small businesses into parting with money they could ill afford to lose.

"Here in North Yorkshire we are grateful to our colleagues from right across the country who helped with this operation."

Mr Gresty's team was supported by trading standards units in Cumbria, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Sunderland, South Tyneside and Suffolk.

The hearing for sentence follows guilty pleas being entered by Stephen Seddon and a three-week trial for William Lavery at Teesside Crown Court in February this year.

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