Morgan Taylor Ltd: start-up company offering over-priced wines – now restructuring

'HELPING YOU REACH YOUR FINANCIAL OBJECTIVES'

I have been contacted by AJ, an unfortunate client of the now bankrupt The London Vines Ltd scam. AJ has been cold called Morgan Taylor Ltd. This is a recently created company formed on 21st January 2014. It has two directors: 25-year-old Oguz Aksehir and 26-year-old Muhammed Ali Zorlu and operates from The Chislehurst Business Centre, 1 Bromley Lane, Bromley, Kent BR7 6LH. The company's share capital is £2.   

'Established merchants of fine wine and investment options'  

Morgan Taylor established 21.1.2014

'At Morgan Taylor, we pride ourselves on providing 

everything you need to make an informed choice 

about where and how to invest in wine.

'Our team of London based advisors will provide 

all the information you need about the current wine market, 

helping you to select the finest wines available for the best returns.' 

Utter rubbish from the Morgan Taylor website:

'At Morgan Taylor we work with you to help find the best solutions for your circumstances. We listen closely to your needs and objectives in order to find out exactly what 'you' the client need. We then take the time to find the relevant product to help fulfil that need.'

AJ was contacted by a Stephen Bell and Joseph Salmon (almost certainly not their real names – 'personas' are regularly used by telesales staff working for this type of company). Bell offered to exchange the wines AJ did receive from The London Vines Ltd – like so many AJ didn't receive all of them – with the following selection of Lafite-Rothschild and Mouton-Rothschild. Totalling £64,400 in all.   

Offer from Morgan Taylor Ltd contained in document called 
wine reservation form 
- 'and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship'!! 

  

A little research on wine-searcher on UK merchants shows that the 2003 Lafite can today be purchased for from £6350 (£10,200 from Morgan Taylor Ltd), the 2008 for £5150 (£8100 MT Ltd), 2010 Lafite for £6450 (£10,050 from MT Ltd) and the 2009 Mouton-Rothschild for from £4900 (£7900 from MT Ltd). Instead of paying Morgan Taylor Ltd £64,400, this five case portfolio could have been bought for £40,550 – a saving of £23850 or 37% less than the total charged by Morgan Taylor Ltd. Fortunately AJ said thanks but no thanks to this Chislehurst-based wallet thinning operation.  

Back in April 2014 AJ was told by 'Joseph Salmon' that these wines selected by Morgan Taylor Ltd “should show a 30% return over the next 24 months”. So AJ could have expected to have seen his wine portfolio supplied by Morgan Taylor's  'team of London based advisors' worth £83,720 by April 2016. To date a check on wine-searcher shows that far from increasing in value the AJ's Morgan Taylor portfolio could be be purchased (6.1.2015) for £38790 – £1760 less than in April 2014.  

I can certainly see Morgan Taylor Ltd reaching their financial objectives but it is considerably less clear how their putative clients will benefit – . 

Muhammed Ali Zorlu is also the sole director of the intriguingly named Berkshire Hetherington Ltd with £1 of share capital. I would be most grateful for any information about Berkshire Hetherington Ltd founded on 29th April 2013. It current address is 72 Hammersmith Road, Crown House, London W14 8TH – a well-known accommodation address as was the previous one – 145-157 St John Street, London EC1V 4PW.

5.1.2015: Berkshire Hetherington Ltd is now at 5 Harbour Exchange Square, South Quay, Canary Wharf, London E14 9GE.  
  
Yet another company I would avoid due to lack of a track record, claiming to be established merchants when recently formed and offering over-priced wines as an investment while claiming 'to select the finest wines available for the best returns'. 

Update: 7.12.2014
Muhammed Ali Zorlu has informed me that of 1st December 2014 Morgan Taylor Ltd has ceased to cold call and restructured its business. He sent me their current price list that shows that their prices are more in-line with the best prices on wine-searcher, although they are not the most competitive. The 10 wines listed would cost a total of £67,413 if purchased through Morgan Taylor Ltd against £64,620 by shopping around on wine-searcher. Ali Zorlu also tells me that his company purchased the leads from a leads company and that they weren't passed on from The London Vines Ltd. 

Reports (8.12.2014) of UK nuisance callers and lead generators facing a crackdown.