There's an old saying "He who never made a mistake never made anything" and like most business people we have made our share.
So we learn from our mistakes and try to ensure we don't repeat them. However, some of these have been more painful than others especially when people refuse to honour agreements. We would like to help other businesses avoid suffering the same problems, so we have decided to name and shame some of our defaulters.

James Mburu
Under a DTI programme we undertook research into the potential for establishing an electronic flower auction service. As well as detailed research into electronic auctions and the cut flower market here and in Holland trips were undertaken, in conjunction with Mr Mburu, to Rotterdam and Amsterdam and a comprehensive report produced. However, despite claiming the full amount of the agreed fee Mr Mburu refused to pay anything even after agreeing a reduced amount

Jeremy Knight - Red Cup/ Green Cup
Following an introduction from Business Link an application was submitted to DTI to undertake an investigation into the potential to the reuse of coffee grinds in a gardening environment. A specialist consultant was identified and after meetings and communications a brief agreed. However, the DTI programme was suddenly withdrawn and after my discussions with the London Development Agency they agreed to provide support to the business. Discussions were held with company employees with regard to developing a Business Case. However, despite having what we thought  was a good relationship with Mr Knight he has continuously refused to honour the original agreement and the invoice is still outstanding.