Oldham: Gavin Hughes speaks out over company 'disappearance'

Gavin Hughes has lived and worked in Oldham for most of his life, having set up Gavin Hughes Upvc and Glazing Specialists around 12 years ago.

In the past decade, and as the face of the company, Gavin earned a solid reputation in the borough as a reliable window fitter.

Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox by signing up to The Oldham Times’ morning and evening newsletters as well as our breaking news alerts 

However, dozens of customers say they have been left in the dark recently after paying hundreds and even thousands of pounds for a deposit, only to find the company - and Mr Hughes - had vanished "out of the blue".

They say they have been unable to get in touch with the company for months which has made some "ill" and the majority upset and angry as they face an uphill battle to recuperate their lost funds.

Also read: Customers left thousands of pounds out of pocket after Oldham company 'vanishes'

Now, Mr Hughes has spoken out, offering insight into what happened as he leaves his previous life and company behind.

He explained business was "struggling a little bit" but was getting by up until the pandemic hit.

Then, after Covid, he said things seemed to turn around as business "boomed" and "went bananas" as people had furlough money.

He said: "We had like 50-plus houses to do, it was all mad.

"We took a surveyor on, two more bricklayers - we made around 12 to 13 grand a week, it was that busy.

"Then, all of a sudden, it just stopped."

The company's automated email response says the office is 'permanently closed' (Image: Facebook)

Money problems quickly consumed the business, which Mr Hughes admits he wasn't fully aware of at the time.

He continued: "[It was] this supplier wants paying, that supplier wants paying, so I was using my money all the time for that.

"You've got a pot of money and you think, I'll pay the supplier this week and then the next thing, you're eating through it and then it starts dwindling and dwindling. 

"Within a few months, I'd spent 70 grand of my own money into the business.

"My wife was telling me to calm down.

"We were basically working and paying the lads wages. At the end of it, there was nothing left.

"Prior to this, I'd not been paid since early June."

The businessman was then advised to take a new accountant during a tax inspection, which then revealed the extent of the business' struggling finances.

He added: "End of July time, [the inspector] said 'I've looked at your books and I've looked at your records, I'm looking at how much money you've pumped into it and the way you're going on, by Christmas time, you'll be homeless'."

Mr Hughes said when he heard that, he started to "panic" and had a meeting with a liquidating firm where the full extent of the businesses' problems unravelled - and he was advised to fold.

The director said he didn't want to liquidate, referring to his company as "like a third child".

He raised that he owes suppliers money and customers' deposits, but liquidators told him he would end up "with nothing" if he carried on.

The father of two added: "I couldn't even walk when I came out, my legs were like jelly. What do I say to my wife? I've spent all this money and I'm never going to get it back.

"I sat in the garden for two weeks. I just didn't speak to anyone.

"It was horrible.

"I know it sounds really low, but I'm the worst one out of pocket.

"All the lads, I kept them in work every single year, every single week, I paid them every Friday.

"I'm not business-minded. I'm a window fitter. That's all I am and that's all I've ever been."

He said he is far from workshy, or a conman, saying he has always worked and started his own business from an office in his garden.

He continued: "I was constantly chasing work, pricing work, I was a workaholic in a way. 

"It started with me and one lad, then a year later, got another two lads and then it went to four, it got bigger and bigger.

"I got a buzz off the phone - as soon as it rang, it was brilliant. I loved the full thing.

"I put my life into it.

"I never wanted to lose it."

He admitted: "I just don't know when to stop, that's been my problem.

"It just got bigger and bigger and bigger, it escalated really.

"It's like a monster, it just got that big, I couldn't control it."

The state of the yard also sparked concern amongst customers (Image: Facebook)

Since handing his company over to liquidators, Mr Hughes has relocated out of Oldham - which he said was always "the plan" after moving house two years ago.

But customers grew concerned over his seemingly sudden disappearance - and after they saw the Gavin Hughes depot trashed, with stacks of windows and doors smashed in the yard.

Mr Hughes explained to The Oldham Times that the storage yard hadn't been trashed by an angry customer, but because the company couldn't afford the skip company - and the company just "tipped it".

He was also keen to put other rumours to bed after he said social media had become awash with "vicious" comments and misinformation, including accusations that he had run off with people's deposits and that he had a property empire and a home in Spain, which he denies.

He added: "I wish.

"The plan was always to move [out of Oldham]. I don't own a house in Spain. I don't even own my own house at the moment.

"I could understand if I'd got this great big house with a Porsche on the drive, but I've not."

Further speculation has tied another new company, Cunninghams Upvc and Warm Roof Spec Ltd, with Mr Hughes, which he was also keen to explain.

Tom Cunningham, who established Cunninghams in Oldham after Mr Hughes' disappearance, told this paper that he had not bought out the previous company and was left to pick up the pieces when his former employer left "out of the blue".

In Mr Hughes' sudden absence, Cunninghams was completing the unfinished work.

Mr Hughes confirmed this, saying: "Tom has not bought the business off me, there was nothing to buy.

"The lads that are still going, they worked for me for a long time, and Tom was picking up any jobs that were there.

"Tom had to step in very quickly to keep the lads going and they did get through quite a bit. I think if he could've done all of them, he would have.

"I really feel sorry for Tom now because his name is being tarnished with my company.

"It's just a mess."

He also said he has been subjected to threats.

He continued: "It's barmy. It's getting to a point where people are saying they'll break your legs, someone's going to kill you, someone's going to set your house on fire.

"I don't feel like going out at the moment anyway and I don't sleep.

"I've never been put in this situation.

"I've had no criminal record, I've had a clean normal life, I don't drink properly, I don't do drugs, I don't smoke.

"I'm just a normal person.

"I've put everything, everything I've ever owned, into Gavin Hughes uPVC because I started from nothing and now there's these vicious rumours going around about me.

"My wife's panicking.

"The liquidator and accountant are saying to me, 'you're a person Gavin, you're not a machine'.

"The liquidator is saying they're a barrier around me - at the moment it doesn't feel like that."

Mr Hughes said he is trying to do "everything by the book" and that it could take nine to 12 months to wind down his company.

However, he said once the liquidation process has started, the full extent of what he's put into the business will be revealed.

He said it will show that he's not "pocketed anything", adding: "I'm not a beneficiary. If someone's lost five grand in a deposit, I've lost maybe 80 to 200 grand.

"The liquidator will look into my personal bank details, my assets, and I'm not bothered because I've got nothing there."

When asked about what customers should do to get their deposits back, Mr Hughes confessed that he doesn't know, but he doesn't "blame them" for being upset.

He continued: "I don't want to rip anyone off. If it was me, I'd be gutted.

"I know it's up to the people, but I'm not a bad person.

"I've only gone off what I've been advised.

"I don't want people to feel sorry for me because the bottom line is, it's my fault, it's me, nothing else, no one else.

"I'm the main person. I'm to blame for it all."

He said he believes the liquidating firm will take the details of those owed money from deposits and will contact them once the paperwork has been finalised.

As for the future, Mr Hughes is looking to move on with his life - though he has regrets over how the situation unfolded.

He concluded: "If I could turn back time, obviously hindsight is a wonderful thing, I would've just kept [the business]. I always thought things will get there, things will work out.

"If I would've known this was going to happen like this I would have gone, 'forget it'.

"I was always busy and had a good reputation.

"I never wanted this to happen.

"It's heartbreaking.

"I had to walk away from it. That's what I had to do and that's what I got told to do.

"It's been two months now since it happened and now I just want to try - well it'll take me years to get over it."

Got a story? Email me Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk