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By Will Sturgeon, 17 November 2004 12:00

NEWS Three company directors who were behind the UK's most complained about company have been disqualified for a total of 25 years.

At the height of its powers telesales business Berger & Co, which closed in March 2003, was making 70,000 cold calls per week - earning it the unwanted accolade of the DTI's most complained about company.

The company would call up offering written reports on issues such as HR and management analysis which firms could take on a 21-day free review. They would then aggressively chase payment for the reports, issuing invoices for between £295 and £395 if the reports were not returned within 21 days.

Consumer Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: "The reports sent out by Berger & Co were virtually worthless, but the company knew that if they sent out thousands of reports and aggressively pursued payment, enough companies would pay up to make a tidy profit.

"What they didn't bank on was the ability of DTI investigators to act swiftly and shut down this deception."

Filip Peter Lademacher was disqualified from acting as a director for 13 years, following a previous order to pay £60,000 costs.

Two other directors, Ian Armstrong and David Stirrat, accepted disqualification undertakings of six years each.

The DTI said this latest case should serve as a timely reminder to companies about the threat of cold calling scams.

The Department warned companies to beware of calls made to junior members of staff who may be more easily tricked into signing up for services, not to provide further contact details unless a business arrangement has been agreed, not to agree to receive free products or services unless fully aware of the terms and conditions first and send back anything received unless the goods have been requested and full terms and conditions are known.