Jamie Rowatt’s firm KR Construction took between £9k and £11k from families before pulling out of the sale of five homes and failed to return their cash.
A construction boss, who took Renfrewshire families’ life savings before pulling out of the sale of several homes, has been banned from running companies for 11 years.
A probe found Jamie Rowatt – who was registered as a director of several companies on Companies House – had abused the Covid bounce back loan scheme aimed to help businesses through the pandemic.
The Insolvency Service said the 46-year-old, who splits his time between North Lanarkshire and Spain, claimed one of his companies, KR Clyde Valley’s turnover was a whopping £1 million when it was actually zero.
The ban comes years after families told the Paisley Daily Express they had handed over between £7k and £9k each for fixtures and fittings in Neilston homes he later backed out of selling; claiming the money could not be returned immediately due to financial difficulties.
Speaking after a judgement last week, Neil North, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said Rowatt showed a complete “disregard” for the significant responsibilities that come with being the director of a company.
He told our sister paper, The Daily Record: “Jamie Rowatt secured a maximum-value £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for KR Clyde Valley Ltd by falsely claiming an estimated annual turnover of £1 million. In reality, the company was dormant and had no turnover.
“Within days of receiving the funds, £35,000 was transferred to a shareholder, £4,000 to Rowatt himself, and later £4,400 to a connected company – none of which were for the economic benefit of the business as required under the terms of the scheme.
“The position of company director carries significant responsibilities that must be taken seriously. Rowatt’s conduct disregarded these obligations which is why he is banned from directing any company until June 2036.”
The news has outraged Tom Farmer, who handed over £11.5k to secure a home for him and his children at Rowatt’s development on Broadlies Road.
He was told in 2021 that KR Construction was pulling the missives in the sale of the three-bedroom property if he did not agree to pay £40,000 on top of his agreed asking price of £220,000.
He and the other prospective buyers did not proceed at the inflated price but were told their previous payments would only be refunded once the houses were sold.
Four years later all of the houses appear to be sold. However neither Tom, or fellow buyer, mum Julie Nicol, have received their money, nor have they heard from Rowatt and company representatives.
Tom said he wasn’t surprised to learn Rowatt had received a ban. He told the Paisley Daily Express: “Two months ago I had a sheriff’s officer serve a writ on Jamie Rowatt and it was delivered. He had 21 days to respond but didn’t it.
“I am really frustrated now because if I am to pursue this any further it would be at my own financial risk. I would have to pay legal fees and potentially have no possibility of receiving any of the cash.
“I feel its really important to stress that the legal system in this country is not set up to support people like myself and the other families.
“We are out of tens of thousands of pounds and we would need to spend more and put ourselves more financial pressure in order to get it back; it’s just not right and that fundamentally needs changed.”
He added: “I am in a group chat with the other buyers and I think we have all come to accept that we will never get anything back. We are trying the best we can to move on with our lives.”
A recent civil court judgement, published in March this year, also stated that Rowatt and his wife Laura, who split their time between Airdrie and Spain, must pay out £270,000 to two business partners they had struck up a friendship with.
KR Construction did not respond to a request for comment.
In February 2023 it had told the Express rising interest rates, the pandemic and rising costs for materials meant it was “not in a good financial position”, but would seek to repay clients on completion of the project and each house sale.
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