05.03.2025

Fallen Eagle

UK based rental company Eagle Platforms is battling to stay afloat, having been caught out by a highly sophisticated and relatively long running fraud.

On Friday last week, company chairman Jim Haigh wrote to some employees explaining that the company would cease trading and lay off staff. Since receiving a copy, we have been trying to determine the full facts, given the sensitivity and potential damage of publishing an inaccurate report. The full text of the letter is carried below.

We now understand that the company has not entered administration and continues to work on obtaining funding to cover the £750,000 cost of the fraud. It is likely though that any rescue package will require the business to go through some form of restructuring process that will probably include administration. Last year the company owners and directors set up a new company - Eagle Platforms & Training - at the same address in Sheffield.

The Fraud

The fraud involved a group of criminals posing as a blue chip building company and opening an account with Eagle. The paperwork - including bank details, insurance policies and references - all seemed to check out. Eagle even managed to gain £2 million of credit insurance.

All seemed to go well to start with and it was confirmed that the company was carrying out actual work/contracts with at least a few companies and asked Eagle to bid on other major projects it said it had won. But then at the peak they stopped paying and stole a lot of the equipment.

Eagle has worked with the CPA rental association and the police, but when it tried to claim on its insurance discovered that fraud was not covered! The credit insurance cover was also null and void as it had not actually supplied the real company that the insurance covered!

In total it owed around £350,000 in rehire and outside contractor costs - so actual cash out of the business - and had to credit invoices of around £360,000 that it had raised for its own equipment. On top of this the legal battle and investigations it has carried out have so far already cost a further £40,000.

Jim Haigh has agreed to an interview with full disclosure once the efforts to restructure the business are completed, so that others might benefit from his misfortune.

He also said: “After the fact and too late, we have improved our account application processes to deter fake scammers and I will be willing to discuss the additional security steps taken by us. According to David Smith at CPA and Chris Pigott (Police plant theft team) this is now the most common way of stealing plant and ancillary services and taking from site is way behind in frequency. Plant ‘all risks insurance’ despite its name does not cover fraud."

Eagle was formed in 2011, by the Haighs - father and son - after having sold the first Eagle Platforms business to Hewden Stuart in 1997. See: Eagle rebirth

The letter

The letter below was sent to at least some employees on Friday:

28th February 2025

Dear, xxxxxxx
It is with great sadness that our original company with a 14-year history of innovation in the rental industry has unfortunately been unable to raise further funding required to cover £750,000.00 of fraudulent activity and to continue operations.

I want to thank personally all the team at EPL who worked hard to help secure a better outcome and our customers and suppliers, equally important to our vision to do better business.

Eagle Platforms Ltd has ceased trading as we are unable to meet obligations financially to suppliers and employees. We have held talks with banks, and finance houses, including the UKSE for a cash lifeline. Sadly, to no avail.

Please receive your final pay cheque and P45 and calculation of redundancy where applicable.
You can claim payment from the department of employment for any amounts due. Go to www.gov.uk/claim-redundancy, the website has details of how to make your claim.

We thank you for your efforts on our behalf and wish you all the best with your future career.
Faithfully
Jim Haigh
Chairman
Eagle Platforms Ltd

Vertikal Comment

This is a hard one. Due to ongoing legal cases regarding the fraud and restructuring discussions, it has been challenging to obtain all of the facts, at least on the record. Jim Haigh is also clear to provide all of the details once the future has been laid out.

Having considered all of this we have chosen to hold off any comment for a few days or a week or two and this will apply to readers comments. However, if you wish to express a comment now send it to [email protected] and will post them at the same time as we open up the comments.