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https://www.facebook.com/groups/1559785740944807 Hello, my
name is Chris Medlock I know that most
of you reading this do not know me, but I would like you to take ten minutes
of your time to read this document and give me your opinion of the contents. This letter
and email shot is being sent to Maplin Electronics,
PMC Telecom, Onedirect, CPC-Farnell,
Arco, Choice Communications, Radio Solutions, Gould Electronics, ChainSpeed, Protea Electronics,
Trade Counter Direct, Music Gear Direct, Lusonic,
Sound Light Company, Haydon Communications, TW Communications, Stage Gear,
Goods Stall, NHBS, Go4Products, PC Arena, Capital Stores & GVC Digital,
who have been identified as Mitex two way radio
resellers. It is also
being sent to over one million email subscribers and is also published on
www.mitex.co where you will also find a link to a Facebook
page where I welcome your comments, either in support of my action or I
welcome a reasonable argument against my action. The majority
of recipients of this letter and email are small to medium sized businesses
who understand how difficult it is take an idea or concept to market and turn
this in to a viable business that employs people. I guess
there are also many of you that have dreamed of starting a business. Some
will have tried and sadly failed. Those who have
succeeded will understand that having a business is no walk in the park, it is not a matter of working 40 hours in an office
or factory and switching off. Being a company director or self-employed is a
lifestyle that transcends the usual office hours, and becomes your life. You
no longer have time to be ill and many cases your business will come before
your family. And although you may reap the reward if your business succeeds,
you are certainly the last to be paid until it does. My current
company has been trading almost 15 years, having gone limited in 2007, and I
employ six people. It has faced the usual ups and downs, weathered the
recession, suffered employee theft, financial fraud, deception, data theft
and had our network hacked. I have employed some excellent people, and a few
who I had rather not. So here is
the background: My area of
expertise is radio communication; that's walkie-talkies and taxi style mobile
radios for those who are unsure. There are two distinct type
of radios in the UK. PMR446 and CB radios do not require a licence, all other
two way radios do. You may have
come across the PMR446 licence free walkie-talkies as these are readily
available on the high street and in specialist electronic shops. Anyone can
use these, and they are available for as little as £10 each. However, the
power is low and the range is limited. More
recently you may have come across high power off the shelf models from Mitex & Tritan. Historically,
high powered two way radios were only available from a specialist supplier,
the licence application process was time consuming and the cost of the
equipment was prohibitive for many companies. In 2002
OFCOM released the UK General Business Licence, now called Business Lite. This simplified the process. The application was
similar to applying for a TV licence and granted access to a set amount of
preapproved channels. For the
first time it allowed two way radio dealers to sell high powered two way
radios ready to use on preapproved channels, and put the onus on applying for
a licence on to the customer. My business supplies most of its customers in
this way. My niche in
the radio communications sector was providing low cost refurbished equipment
to companies who wanted good quality equipment at a reduced cost. However,
sometimes it was difficult to meet demand, and I came up with the concept to
import a new low price, high power walkie-talkie retail packaged specifically
to use with this licence. Most
business people will understand that the general day to day running of a
business can sometimes prevent great ideas from ever coming to fruition or
seriously delay them coming to market, so it is not unusual for some projects
to sit on the back burner for a while whilst other projects and ideas take
precedence. It was 2006
when I started importing a range of two way radio samples from a wide range
of manufacturers in China; many of which were either copies of other
manufacturers’ radios or of poor design or construction. As this was just one
of a number of projects, I assigned it no real urgency. In 2008 I
made contact with David Chan at Quanzhou Donghai Lianfa Electronic
Factory in China. After being very pleased with the initial samples, I placed
an initial order for around 50 pieces and sold them under the SFE brand model
S820. All the feedback was positive and my engineering department had done
extensive tests to ensure it was suitable for the UK market. It was
around this time I began development of the recently released Mitex Pro. All of the above
is documented via emails to and from the factory, invoices from the factory
to Chris Medlock and Radioswap and my solicitor
Bradford and Sons, who drafted an agreement. You may ask
where this is all leading? And this is where I need
your help, so please read on. In August
2009 I was approached for a job by Paul Clarke. He had left a successful tool
company to work on his own tool project (Draxton
LTD). Perhaps I should have suspected
something at this point. Unfortunately
Draxon LTD went on to be another of Mr Clarke’s
failed business ventures. I had known Paul Clarke since the early 1990s when
we were employed by the same insurance company. We had been friends on and
off, and I had briefly employed him some years earlier whilst he was working
on another of his projects, but it hadn't worked out for me. I was very
reluctant to employ Mr Clarke, but my wife at the time, Deborah Hughes, was
very insistent. So I gave Paul a job at my company Radioswap
Ltd. It would later transpire that I
wasn't aware of the true nature of the friendship between my wife and Mr
Clarke. I employed
Mr Clarke in a general role, but primarily as sales person to sell our wide
range of accessories to other radio communications companies. It was only a matter of weeks before he
advised me that he was unable to sell our accessory range as the market was
flooded. However, to this day we continue to sell many thousands of
accessories each year. He also
refused to sign his employment contract. In August
2009 I incorporated a new company Mitex (UK) LTD.
Having not learned from my
previous mistake of having a business partner, I gave 50% of the shares to my
wife Deborah Hughes, but she was my wife so surely this would be different? Unfortunately not! I registered
the domain www.mitex.co.uk using the company I use for all my web hosting.
And I installed a telephone line in my personal name (because it was cheaper) for the sole use of Mitex.
(The phone number and my address is on all the
original boxes). I created
the Mitex business plan, opened the Mitex (UK) Ltd bank account with the RBS, and I was the
sole guarantor of the overdraft facility. All of these
actions are well documented. Mitex was to be my off the shelf, ready to use, high powered two way radio designed to be used with the OFCOM Business Lite licence. Both my engineering department and I had
devised a channel plan, and my engineering department had rewritten the
instruction manual in English. I want to make this quite clear: Mr Clarke and Ms Hughes
had no involvement in neither the concept, importing the radios, testing
them, creating the channel plan nor made any financial contribution towards
any aspect of creating Mitex. I chose
three designers to design the packaging. One came out head and shoulders
above the rest - Adrian Bibby ABCDesign. (I still use his services today). Mr
Clarke attended the designers with me, but had no involvement. However he was
involved in searching through hundreds of photos online looking for suitable
images for the front of the box. The
completed packaging design was sent to China, along with the channel plan and
the instruction manual; and my concept The Mitex
General "off the shelf" two way business
radio was born. This was solely funded by my own personal funds. In fact,
over the following eighteen months or so I injected around £140,000 of my own
funds as a Director’s Loan in to the business. No one else contributed
financially to the Mitex business. Paul Clarke
had absolutely no contact with the factory until late October 2009 when I
asked him to answer any emails from the factory whilst I was away on a cruise
with my family, as I had limited access to emails. Late in 2009
Mr Clarke asked me for shares in Mitex. I refused. Throughout
2010 my marriage to Debbie Hughes began to collapse. Truth be told it was
probably failing much before then, but I guess sometimes we deliberately
blind ourselves from the truth or what is right in front of us. In February
2010 I moved Paul Clarke as an employee from Radioswap
Ltd to become an employee of Mitex (UK) Ltd, at the
same address, but in a different office away from Ms Hughes and myself. In early
2010 Ms Hughes gave Mr Clarke 10% of Mitex reducing
her shareholding to 40%. This was followed by Ms Hughes making Mr Clarke a
director of Mitex (UK) Ltd. I did not
agree to my former wife giving any shares to Mr Clarke, and I certainly did
not want him to be a director. However, our marriage was crumbling and I
stupidly signed a document in an attempt to keep the peace. I was even
coerced in to signing a document giving Ms Hughes 5% of my shareholding once
my Director’s Loan was repaid. This would have the effect of reducing my
shareholding to 45% and increasing Ms Hughes to 45%. Mr Clarke would retain
his 10%. At this point
I still had £140,000 tied up in the business, and the only person who was
getting anything out of the company was Paul Clarke by means of a salary and
a commission. Ms Hughes and Mr Clarke had even insisted that Mr Clarke
received a commission for all the products sold from Mitex,
regardless of whether Mr Clarke actually made the sale. This even included
all the stock that I, as Radioswap, bought from Mitex. So I had to
pay Mr Clarke a commission just to buy radios from my own company. He had to
do absolutely nothing to earn this. By then end
of 2010 our marriage was over. During
Christmas 2010 Ms Hughes spent the Christmas break at Mr Clarke’s home with
his family. On returning
to work after the Christmas break Mr Clarke asked if he could work from his
unit in Sheffield. I agreed to him working there, as I wanted him away from
me and my wife, but I certainly did not agree to what followed. Within the
space of a few days and in the following weeks Mr Clarke and Ms Hughes:- ·
Disconnected the Mitex phone line at my
unit and had a new one installed in Mr Clarkes unit. ·
Changed the company accountant
·
Changed the registered head office ·
Redirected all the Mitex post ·
Employed Foys solicitors at the expense of Mitex to work against me ·
Removed me from the company bank account, even though I was
guaranteeing the overdraft ·
Dictated when I could remove any of my funds from the company ·
Set up a new domain and email accounts ·
Attempted to remove me as a director of Mitex
It is
important to note again that neither Paul Clarke nor Debbie Hughes had ever
put any money in to Mitex. They were using the
money that I had put in to the company to force me out of the company. Again,
this is documented. These
actions led me to take advice from Taylor Emmett corporate solicitors who
advised me to remove my funds from Mitex ASAP, and
we then issued a ninety day notice for the return of all my funds. Mr Clarke’s
demeanour was so threatening at subsequent board meetings that I felt it
necessary to bring security with me. However Mr Clarke refused him access as
he owned the building. Perhaps one
of the most ridiculous things Mr Clarke and Ms Hughes did was increase the
trade cost of Mitex products to Radioswap
Ltd whilst Paul Clarke was selling Mitex products
cheaply on eBay through his trading name Toolfirm.
This eventually caused me to stop selling Mitex
products, which had previously accounted for over 25% of Mitex
total business. At that point Radioswap was selling
2000 Mitex Radios per year plus accessories. Mr Clarke would rather make a few hundred pounds
per month selling Mitex radios cheaply through his
personal eBay account rather than maintain Radioswap
as its second biggest customer. I was eventually
forced to resign as director as part of the financial settlement of the
divorce, but made it very clear I would not sell my shares. In February
2012 Paul Clarke offered me £26,325 for my 45% shareholding in Mitex (UK) Ltd. I refused. I offer him the same amount
for his 10% shareholding (note the difference in the offers here). He
refused. Subsequently
there are many emails between Mr Clarke and myself, with me confirming time
and time again that I had absolutely no intention of selling my shares in Mitex. However, in
June 2012 I received a letter from the directors of Mitex
advising me that they had transferred £26325 in to my bank account, and that
Mr Clarke was now the owner of my shares. I have sent
many emails and letters to Mr Clarke and Mitex (UK)
Ltd. However he believes that he can do as he wishes and totally refuses to
return my shares. Mr Clarke
and Ms Hughes played little or no role in setting up this business,
regardless of what they may say, I have documented proof and witness statements
to back up everything that I claim in this letter. Since
forcibly removing me from the company they have done little, if nothing, to
increase or improve the product range. The only portable radio they have
introduced is the Mitex HD (which is effectively
the Mitex Site with a bigger battery pack) and the
Mobile radio. All the other radios were named by me - General, Security,
Site, Sport, PMR446 and the newly released Mitex
Pro, which I designed back in 2008. I still have the design specifications. So there you
have it. Mitex was my concept and fully funded by
me, and was taken by Paul Clarke and Debbie Hughes. Do you
really want to support people who are prepared to behave in this way? What would I
like? 1. First and foremost I would
like my 45% shareholding in Mitex returning. 2. I would like Mr Clarke and
Ms Hughes to return all the dividends that they have taken from the company
since forcing this transaction. 3. I would like Paul Clarke
to stop selling Mitex Radios through his Toolfim account on ebay,
undercutting all other Mitex dealers and to return
all the funds that he has taken from the company in this way. This is a clear
conflict of interest for a director who is clearly diverting funds away from
the company. I believe this is also a way for Mitex
to avoid paying VAT on these sales, but I am happy to take advice on this. 4. I would like Debbie Hughes
to stop selling Mitex Radios through her company Radiopro. This is a clear conflict of interest for an
active director of Mitex (UK) Ltd, who should be
directing any sales enquiries toward legitimate dealers rather than siphoning
sales to herself. 5. Mitex (UK) Ltd should pass any
and all sales enquiries to the nearest established dealer to the postcode of
the enquiry and not take the order direct. That's the whole idea or having
resellers. 6. If it is deemed that the
transaction was illegal - I certainly
didn't agree to the sale and they have no paperwork to support my agreement
to this transaction - then both Paul Clarke and Debbie Hughes should be
forced to resign as directors, and both directors should face criminal
proceedings. I am happy to take advice on this. 7. Paul Clarke and Debbie
Hughes as directors of the company should stop making false claims about the
company and its products, particularly relating to Mitex
(UK) Ltd being a manufacturer, as this is wholly untrue. All Mitex products are manufactured in China,
the handheld radios are simply rebadged S.F.E. units. The audio accessories
are simply off the shelf accessories that are UNBRANDED, but once placed in a
Mitex cardboard box, they claim that they are
genuine Mitex accessories, even though there is no
branding on the accessory itself. It must also
be noted that since removing me from the company Mitex
does not have a technical department, as previously all Mitex
Radios were tested by the engineering department at Radioswap.
Therefore, for the last three years Mitex has been
totally unable to test any of the radios that have come in to the country.
They have absolutely no idea if the radios are correctly on frequency or have
the correct power output. All comments
and advice is welcome via the Facebook Mitex-Debate group. I personally welcome all advice,
supporting either me or the actions of Paul Clarke and Debbie Hughes as
directors or Mitex (UK) LTD. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1559785740944807 Finally, I
have known Paul Clarke since around 1990 and Debbie Hughes since around 2003.
This is not a personal attack on either of them. If it was personal, I could
just put my divorce papers online. This is strictly a business matter. I
created this business, I funded it and I just want what is rightfully mine,
no more no less. Thank you
for your time. Chris
Medlock https://www.facebook.com/groups/1559785740944807 |
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Product Development and Exclusive
Distribute Agreement 产品开发和独家代理协议 This
Agreement entered into this st day of 2009
by Quanzhou Fengze Lianfa Electronic Factory, a company organized and
existing under the laws of China, having its
principal place of business at Daping Industrial Park, Donghai
Town, Fengze District, Quanzhou
City, Fujian Province, China
(hereinafter referred to as "COMPANY ") and Radioswap Company Ltd , a company
organized and existing under the laws of UK , having its
principal place of business at Double Acre, Long Road, Brampton en le Morthen, Rotherham, South
Yorkshire, England, UK
(hereinafter
referred to as "REPRESENTATIVE") 此合同制作于 年 月 日，甲方(以下简称The COMPANY)系泉州丰泽联发无线电厂-存在中国法律下的公司，业务地点为中国福建省泉州市丰泽区东海镇大坪工业区，乙方（以下简称The REPRESENTATIVE）系Radioswap Company Ltd ，业务地点为Double Acre, Long Road, Brampton en le Morthen, Rotherham, South
Yorkshire, England, UK . Through the friendly negotiation of both
parties, the REPRESENTATVIE agree to afford the development of the product “PRO-RADIO”
and the COMPANY agrees to appoin the REPRESENTATIVE
to sell “PRO-RADIO” as the exclusive distributor in UK. In order to make the
right and obligation of both parties clear, the two parties in question
conclude this agreement specially.
Extract page
one only supplied |
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Product
development (SFE S860 - AKA PRO-RADIO - AKA "MITEX PRO")
Invoice Dated July 2009
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