This story is part of a series to be published over the coming week following an investigation into Object Builders.
Over the course of more than a month we spoke to former customers and contractors who claim to have been left out of pocket - some to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds.
To read all the stories in this series click here.
An architectural designer who says he is owed thousands of pounds by a building firm now under police investigation has told how he helped affected customers join forces to seek justice.
Daniel Bedward said he travelled the country meeting clients for Sidcup-based Object Limited, but the firm suddenly cut off all communication and never paid him for any of the jobs.
All he received was £100, which he had demanded to prove that the company was legitimate after he started becoming concerned by its “baffling” operations.
The firm, which traded as Object Builders, has since been reported to police for alleged fraud by at least 19 customers, who say they paid hefty deposits but the company never did the work and then disappeared.
“They rang me out of the blue,” said Daniel. “They said they’d been let down by two architects and would I like to take over. They gave me a list of jobs.
“I think it was the third one I did, the lady came to the door and said, ‘Oh, didn’t you get a message from Object Builders?’ She said she’d cancelled them and was looking to go with someone else and get her money back, because she was saying she was struggling to get hold of anybody in the office.
“I got in the car and gave the guy a call. He said to me, ‘No, there’s just been a confusion with the guys, they are not communicating. Forget about her and just move on to the next one’.
“At this time, I hadn’t been paid. I said, ‘Can you just put £100 into my bank account so I know things are alright?’ Within the next five minutes, £100 came into my account.”
The firm was offering to handle the planning application process for its clients, but taking deposits on the building works at the same time.
“I could never understand,” he said. “I couldn’t understand why customers handed over money when they hadn’t even got planning permission. It just amazed me. It was just all crazy.”
The quotes Object had given to customers for the building works also seemed impossibly low.
“I was saying, ‘You can’t even build a shed for that’,” he said. “They’d all been given such low prices and quick start times.”
The firm was taking jobs all over the place – from London, Reading and Tunbridge Wells to Birmingham, Nottingham and Sheffield. Daniel couldn’t understand how the business would deliver so many projects so far apart for such low prices.
“I was scratching my head,” he said. “I found it barmy.”
“It got to the Friday when I should have got paid and I didn’t, and that’s when alarm bells started ringing,” Daniel alleged.
“I did speak to Object Builders one time. I told them, ‘I’m going to go to all these clients you gave me and tell them what you’re about’.”
After that call, said Daniel, “I never heard from them again.”
He estimates that he did around 10 surveys for the firm and was owed around £4,000 – but didn’t have time to waste chasing it, as it was more important to take on other work and “continue putting food on the table”.
But he soon started receiving calls from desperate Object Builders customers, saying the firm had “ghosted” them.
Its website had gone offline, its phone numbers were dead and messages to its email addresses were bouncing back. His was the only number they had that still worked.
Daniel started putting the customers in touch with each other. To date, more than 100 have joined a Facebook group and reported that they paid deposits for work that was never completed.
City of London Police has confirmed that at least 19 customers have filed formal fraud reports with its Action Fraud squad. At least two have been assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and referred to the Metropolitan Police Service.
But, said Daniel: “I said to my girlfriend, let’s try to take something good from the negative.”
Some of the customers, impressed by his willingness to stand alongside them and help them seek justice, have decided to keep him on as their architect when their building plans finally get back on track.
They included Newham businesswoman Katarzyna Marcinowska, who had paid Object Limited almost £9,000 as a deposit on an extension to her Wonder Years Preschool in Stratford.
“Action Fraud can confirm that it has received 19 reports, which have all been appropriately verified, that were made between 22 July 2024 and 8 August 2024,” said Action Fraud’s acting director Claire Webb.
“These are currently being assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) at the City of London Police.”
Two complainants have since received letters saying NFIB has referred their cases to the Metropolitan Police for further investigation.
The Metropolitan Police stated: “An investigation is underway, relating to potential fraud. At this stage, no arrests have been made."
Company owner and director Robin Rudland did not respond to requests for comment.
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