UK shuts down aggressive vitamin supply firm with Indian call centres

A company that used call centres in India to sell vitamin and healthcare supplements using high-pressure sales tactics has been wound up in a British court.

The UK's Insolvency Service said on Monday that it had conducted confidential investigations after it received complaints about Young Forever’s trading practices.

"Young Forever’s victims were the elderly and the vulnerable and many more people will be protected from their aggressive sales tactics thanks to the court’s decision to wind-up the company," said Irshard Mohammed, Senior Investigator for the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that the company sold vitamins and healthcare supplements through cold calling members of the public who were either elderly or vulnerable.

The court also heard that Young Forever’s marketing and sales techniques were improper, applied excessive markups in excess of 1,000 percent and the company failed to maintain or preserve adequate records.

"Young Forever used call centres based in India and victims said that sales staff were persistent and would call repeatedly," the Insolvency Service said in a statement.

"Sales staff also falsely claimed that Young Forever was linked to government bodies, healthcare providers or the NHS," it added.

Following the investigation, Young Forever Limited was wound up in the public interest last week in the High Court of Justice before Judge Sebastian Prentis and an Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator to liquidate its assets.

At the hearing to consider the petition to wind up the company, the court heard that Young Forever was incorporated in June 2018, with registered offices in Kensington, west London.

The current recorded director of the company is Shadab Shaikh, who has a Mumbai correspondence address listed on the UK’s Companies House records.

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