Vance Miller working ‘to set up orphanage’
CONTROVERSIAL kitchen trader Vance Miller has told a judge he is not interested in making profit but is working to set up an orphanage in Africa.
Miller, 42, from Ramsbottom, made the comment as he was being grilled about his trading practices by the Office of Fair Trading who claim he has defied an order to clean up his business.
Miller was the first person in the country to be handed a ‘Stop Now’ order by the government in 2002 and was jailed several months later for failing to stick to its terms.
Now the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have brought him back to court claiming there have been 3,000 complaints against him between 2004 and 2007.
Yesterday , Miller told a court at Manchester Civil Justice Centre how he had tried to improve his customer service - claiming it has helped make his business the biggest independent kitchen supplier in the world - selling 400 kitchens a week or 20,000 a year.
But he says complaints soared from two in June 2006 to 704 in December that year after Oldham trading standards began a slur campaign against him in the media and the internet. He also says they asked customers to contact them with any complaints.
If the court accepts the OFT’s claims that Miller is guilty of contempt of court for breaching the Stop Now order, he could be fined or sent to prison for up to two years.
Giving evidence Miller said: “I am here to build the largest kitchen company in the world, I’m here to be the best in the world at what I do and I will be the best in the world at what I do.
“I believe people have misunderstood the “Stop Now” order and they think I am not allowed to be in business, a lot of the complaints are just people saying Vance Miller is still trading. Trading standards won’t show me any proof otherwise.”
Claiming to live a simple life despite his success he added: “All I want to do it to own a big enough company to open an orphanage in Africa, that is our goal, we do not wants yachts, fancy houses, airplanes or big medallions.”
He added that he had a £48,000 mortgage, he had never owned a new car or watch and he bought three pairs of socks for £2.
Maple Mill
He was repeatedly asked to explain his role with companies called Kitchens and Rock Solid Kitchens, based at his premises in Maple Mill, to explain how they changed hands without money being exchanged and what part he played in the day to day running of the companies, which he says are owned by two friends.
After breaking the order in 2003 he was jailed for nine months - a sentence cut to five weeks after he apologised and promised to put the recommendations of management consultants into practice.
Paul Chaisty QC, for the OFT questioning Miller’s statement to the court, said: “All you have done in effect is simply look up the recommendations and simply put them in the tense to suggest they have been done isn’t it?”
Miller also described filming deliveries of kitchens to show all parts had been sent, monitoring how many calls his customer services department received and how quickly calls were answered. And explained how he personally rang his 37-strong complaints team, posing as a customer with a problem to gauge their reactions.
Later he told how he had been using freedom of information laws every month to get an update of how many complaints trading standards were receiving against him.
The court was shown newspaper reports, including one which claimed trading standards had received 50,000 complaints against him, which he said had come from a series of press releases and briefings which had been put out by Oldham trading standards. He said the trading standards campaign had resulted in him appearing on each of the TV consumer programs Watchdog and Rogue Trader seven times.
And Miller described how he had been working with Rochdale Social Services providing five young offenders with jobs and advice on getting their lives on track. He also said he already owned an orphanage in Uganda which was home to 12 orphans.
He said in the last 12 months one of the businesses he is linked to - Rock Solid Kitchens - had set up showrooms in Sheffield, Warrington, Doncaster, Blackpool, Leeds and Oldham but he asked for permission not to reveal their exact addresses for fear they would be targeted by trading standards.
Miller was said to have been involved with a series of different companies, including Craftsman Kitchens Ltd, Craftsman Kitchen Manufacturing, Maple Industries, Kitchen Warehouse, Maple Industries Ltd, RB Interiors, Discount Kitchens Direct and Kitchens, all of which have been based in Bury or Oldham.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:43 am
Isn’t it strange how this “Stop Now” order was so well published and yet never properly explained what it meant? especially given its ambiguous name? Its almost as if the OFT wanted people to think vance miller was not allowed to do business at all. but why would they do such a thing? surly they want to reduce the number of complaints brought in against the man, not increase?