One of the companies to have been approached in this way is the Childcare Corporation, which has 11 nurseries in central and southern England. Its marketing manager, Nicky Jurkschat, said, 'A distressed nursery manager rang recently following a claim by a Lancashire company that the nursery owed Pounds 490 after agreeing over the phone six months ago to advertise in its child abuse booklet. Because we are a nursery chain, everything is booked through me at head office, so I was surprised to hear it.'
The Childcare Corporation challenged the claim, only for both Ms Jurkschat and the company's chairman, Alan Bentley, to receive other calls from the company claiming it was owed money. 'My concern is for smaller owner-operated nurseries who may not have a head office to deal with these formalities and are being bullied into something they never agreed to.
These people will call you by name and act tough and confident, but hang up once they realise you know what you're talking about,' Ms Jurkschat said.
Stuart MacMurdo of Belfast Trading Standards said small businesses in Northern Ireland were being targeted by such companies. 'It is our belief that they are obtaining money by deception through representing themselves as raising money for charity and making this claim that people have agreed to advertise months before.'
He said the typical approach of the companies, which are based in Lancashire, is to call a small business about supporting a children's charity by buying advertising space in a booklet or magazine. They then claim the business has advertised before or agreed months earlier to take out an advertisement.
Typically the business then gets a fax of the draft advertisement and is asked to confirm that the details are correct, or is asked by phone to repeat basic information like name, address and nature of business.
Sometimes the conversation is recorded without consent, to be used against the business later on. A mock publication may be sent to the advertiser, but these are the only copies ever produced.
Soon after the companies threaten to use the small claims court or to blacklist the business with credit reference agencies.
Belfast Trading Standards said businesses approached in this way should ask the company for details such as the registration number of the charity being supported. They should then verify with the charity that it has a formal fundraising agreement with this firm, that it has been in place some time, that it has been beneficial to the charity and that the company is open with the charity about its fundraising activities. They should also contact the local Trading Standards and Charity Commissioners offices. The company should be asked where its publication will be distributed and this should be confirmed with the outlets.
The company should also be asked where its publication will be distributed and this should then be confirmed with outlets.
