Buyer Beware!
Any lingering doubts about the survival of Michel Stainer’s Grand empire disappeared on Saturday afternoon. For two hours, process servers acting for the administrators of [...]
The Grand
Another Lie by Cllr David Drury Monk?
Why does Council leader David Monk (pictured) lie to his fellow councillors and the residents of the district either by design or accident? Here’s a very recent example: [...]
Covid-19 Grant Fraud at the Grand as Council demands its money back
BREAKING NEWS: Following an FOI request first made on May 3rd 2020 and a full eight months late, the Council has conceded that it received applications for COVID-19 grants [...]
The kitchen may be silent but the books are getting cooked
For an accounting sleight of hand that elevates end-of-year accounts into a Booker Prize contender for fiction, look no further than those filed by Hallam Estates Ltd at [...]
Breaking News: The Owners of the Grand put into Administration
At 17.15 this afternoon, in the High Court in London, the Honourable Mr Justice Snowden (pictured), put Hallam Estates Ltd, owners of the Grand since 1996 into [...]
The Fall of the Stainer Empire: Part 1
On October 13th, the two flagship suites at the heart of the Stainer holiday-let business went under the hammer at London auctioneers Barnard Marcus. The sale should have [...]
Grant Fraud at The Grand?
As time runs out on Hallam Estates, owners of the Grand, we hear of yet another cause for anxiety for its director Robert Moss (below left) , and shadow director Michael [...]
Michael Stainer and The Grand, Folkestone, reach the pages of Private Eye
Aviva, Michael Stainer, Hallam Estates, the freeholder of the Grand; and the Chairman of the Association of the Residents of the Grand, Peter Cobrin, make the pages of [...]
Stainer under Restraint?
Restraint isn’t the word that comes to mind when considering the much battered and bruised Michael Stainer as he fights to retain control of the Grand. Fifteen times in the [...]
Message from HQ: Time to Stop Digging?
What would make a good week for Michael Stainer? How about one in which three court cases don’t go against you. Or try this: one in which the moratorium on his [...]
The lady says no – and she’s not for turning…
Imagine how Amanda Blanc, appointed Aviva’s Chief Executive in July this year, would feel if she woke up to find that her insurer had refused to insure her home, and that [...]
Stainer’s Surrender?
Has Michael Stainer given up the ghost? Have those tired old fingertips clinging to the wreckage of the Grand finally lost their grip? Friday’s brief hearing before [...]
Stainer the false prophet
Like the biblical prophet some think he resembles, Michael Stainer has frequently prophesised the imminent collapse of part of the southern elevation of the Grand. As [...]
Stainer sent packing (again) in Tribunal humiliation
The latest full determination in a six-year saga of defeats in Tribunal and High Court hearings, was published on 11th August. The owners of the Grand, Hallam Estates, along [...]
A Gaping Gap at the Grand
Almost five year after the infamous dawn raid that saw Michael and Doris Stainer and their general manager arrested, Robert Richardson has finally abandoned the beleaguered [...]
The Dog (HMRC) Ate My Homework
How many times when a schoolboy at Bedford School did Michael Stainer use the excuse “the dog ate my homework”? We will never know, but we do know that he has been using [...]
Revealed: Michael Stainer Owes The Taxman £1.1 million
When Michael Stainer, Doris Stainer and Robert Richardson were arrested in July 2015, they were held in custody for approximately nine hours. Stainer described the dawn raid [...]
Knock, knock: bailiffs at the door is no joke
In yet another twist in the tortured tale of Michael Stainer’s activities, bailiffs turned up at the Grand on Thursday 4th June. They were looking for the “owners” or [...]
The Puppet Master Exposed…
When Michael Stainer “illegally” removed Henry Bolton in November 2018, as the new director of his various companies, and replaced him with “Robert Moss’, little did [...]
The Great Escape: the Remake
As Michael Stainer (again) and Hallam Estates, the company he set up in 1995 to keep control of the Grand, both slide towards insolvency under the burden of £500,000 of [...]
More missing flats – another mystery at the Grand
At a time when our local council is haemorrhaging cash at an alarming rate, and revenues have plummeted, the income from business and domestic rates is vital to maintain [...]
Free Handouts or a Genuine Lifeline? How Councils are ‘Managing’ the COVID-19 Financial Support Programme
Deserted streets, closed or shuttered shops, hotels and restaurants. It’s like a scene from any one of a dozen end of the world movies. The one though, that leaps to mind [...]
Liquidation Looms as Stainer and Hallam Estates Humiliated in the High Court – Again!
Hallam Estates, owners of the freehold of the Grand (Folkestone, Kent), lost yet another High Court battle in the Insolvency and Companies Court on February 21st. Hallam were [...]
The Stainer Mortgage Crisis
Every so often, Xmas comes early for those who believe in casting light into dark places. One such dark place is how Michael Stainer (pictured) has financed his activities [...]
The Stainer Scandal — Drowning in Debt part 2
Documents evidencing the extent of the financial mismanagement which led to the liquidation of eight companies under the directorship of Mr Stainer (pictured left) and [...]