6 January - Business interests
Yesterday’s Twitter message asked “who is Maxine Fothergill anyway?” and went on to
imply it was a silly name. As I was at school with a John Fothergill the name never
struck me as odd but maybe the main question is worth a bit more consideration.
Councillor Fothergill’s Register of Interests
is the obvious place to begin any research and it reveals a business in Gravesend, two Erith addresses, a husband and two
children. Maxine is Maxine Patricia and the husband of 30 years is Robert
Charles Fothergill, another businessman with property interests.
You will be unlikely to be a regular reader of Members’ Interests but if you were
you might spot how it changes. For Maxine sometimes no local addresses have been listed and at other
times there is a third not on the current list. What is picked out for public consumption appears to be
whatever suits the circumstances at the time.
One address was there in 2011 but disappeared the following year. It came back in 2014 and now
it has gone again. Does one really move away and have no further interest in a house and then move
back to the same address? It’s not illegal but it is strange.
A web search reveals that together Mr. & Mrs. Fothergill have or have had an interest in the following companies…
• Amax Estates & Property Service Ltd.
• Amax Estate Management Ltd.
• Amax Homes & Maintenance Ltd.
• Amax Maintenance Ltd.
• Maritime Gate (Northfleet) Management Co. Ltd.
• Mariners Walk Management Co. Ltd.
• NFRL Professional Training Ltd.
• Sim Plock Ltd.
• Thames Gateway (Kent) Chamber of Commerce.
• Thames Gateway Investments Ltd.
• The Association of Residential Managing Agents Ltd.
• The Maltings TRTM Co. Ltd.
• The Robert Fothergill Hartley Sipp Ltd.
A couple of those appear to be no more than a group of residents who have come together to manage
their own block of flats but most are companies in the normal sense of the word. Some no longer exist.
Why several Bexley councillors have a history of slipping into and out of directorships has always puzzled me.
It’s almost as if Bexley Council is a club for failed businessmen.
They close companies down and then open another. If the first was a flop why
restart one doing much the same thing? It doesn’t seem to be something regular citizens would do.
One of the things not included in
the report on what Councillor Fothergill was
supposed to have done to a vulnerable old lady was how much money she may
have lost. Stupidly I didn’t take notes during a face to face meeting and
afterwards (and nearly two weeks later) wasn’t sure I had heard the figure correctly.
Erith & Thamesmead UKIP’s Facebook page has not been so reticent…
Many hold out little hope on getting a just resolution to the numerous corrupt
acts in Bexley (most recently a fraud disciplinary process which in fact should
have been referred to the police of one of our councillors/estate agent and
Gravesend resident who defrauded an elderly person out of hundreds of thousands of pounds).
My recollection is that the offer price was £250,000 although it should be remembered that my
informants and perhaps UKIP’s too were not present during the Code of Conduct
Sub-Committee meeting. It’s second hand information.
How it is that such a ‘crime’ results in no meaningful penalties is a question
much easier to answer than any of the foregoing.
It’s because they all know where the skeletons are. All the bad councillors have
something on the other bad councillors. There is Honour Among Thieves and “If I go down
I’ll be taking you with me”. I would not discount the possibility that
Councillor Fothergill’s ‘crime’ has been pursued as part of a stitch up
operation. The postbag suggests that no one likes her. "Vile" is not a word to b used lightly.