Met Police probes Object Builders over Bexleyheath case

Over the course of more than a month we spoke to former customers and contractors who claim to have been left out of pocket - some to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds.

To read all the stories in this series click here. 

A driving instructor says he was left panicked and stressed after handing over years’ worth of savings to a building firm who then disappeared without doing any work.

Laxman Neupane, 44, from Bexleyheath, is one of 19 people confirmed to have filed formal fraud reports with police against Sidcup building firm Object Limited, which traded as Object Builders.

He is still waiting to hear whether he will ever recover the almost £25,000 he has lost.

“I can’t spend money on my family and children that I would like to,” he said. “I’m under economic stress as well as mental stress.”

Laxman’s case was reported to City of London Police’s Action Fraud department.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has since referred the case to the Metropolitan Police Service for investigation.

The Metropolitan Police stated: “An investigation is underway, relating to potential fraud. At this stage, no arrests have been made."

Object Builders – which shut down its website and all its email addresses and phone numbers – has not responded to Newsquest’s approaches for comment.

Laxman and his wife decided in spring to invest in a single-storey rear extension to their semi-detached home, to create a study room for their two children.

They found Object Builders through a service called Bark.com, where customers can enter details of their building project and receive bids.

After receiving Object Builders’ quote, Laxman Google-searched the firm and saw their professional-looking website, bearing the logos of numerous reputable trade bodies. 

“They had reviews,” he said. “It seemed genuine. They came to our house, did the surveys, gave me the quotation and gave me the deadline for the work to be started.”

Then an architect came out to view the property, hear what the family wanted and draw up plans.

Object Builders quoted Laxman £42,000, plus £3,495 for the architect’s work.

It asked for a 50% deposit, plus the architect’s fees (£24,495 altogether) by bank transfer, with the rest to be paid upon completion.

Laxman paid on June 19, according to an Object Limited receipt shown to Newsquest.

Laxman said the money lost when Object Limited disappeared was the equivalent of a year's salary for him, leaving him under financial and emotional stress and unable to afford treats for his family (Image: Charles Thomson)

“I was quite happy to go for it because the quote was a competitive one and I wanted it done as quickly as possible,” he said.

“They said they were going to use it to buy the bulk of the stuff and get it done on time. I trusted them.”

The work was supposed to begin by July 31, but when that date arrived, said Laxman, “Nothing happened.”

“Communication cut out on July 30. I called them and the phone line said it had been cut off.”

He still had the number for the architect, so he rang that.

The architect said Object Builders had never paid him and asked Laxman if he had seen the Facebook group set up by other customers in the same predicament.

“That’s how I learned about all the others,” said Laxman.

Newsquest has spoken to the architect, who corroborated Laxman’s account.

Panic set in over the tens of thousands of pounds he had handed to the firm.

“That’s a whole year’s salary for me,” said Laxman. “It took years to save up. I’d also borrowed some money from friends and colleagues.”

At the time of speaking to Newsquest, he was still too embarrassed to tell those he’d borrowed from what had happened.

“I’ve been left unable to pay them back,” he said. “I’m hoping the bank is going to reimburse me. They’ve said that they are investigating.”

Other customers have been reimbursed by their banks or credit card providers under what’s called the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM). Laxman hopes his bank will follow suit.

Newsquest has confirmed that at least 19 customers have filed formal fraud complaints over similar situations with Object Builders – but even more have claimed online that the same happened to them.

Company owner and director Robin Rudland did not respond to Newsquest's requests for comment, but told one customer that he was not really in charge and was 'just a name' on registration papers (Image: Ray Mo) Company director and owner Robin Anthony Rudland took over the firm in May 2023 and registered it with Companies House at an address in Sidcup.

He then changed the address to an office block in Oxted.

The Oxted office has since been closed down. A letter and phone call to the Sidcup address were not answered.

But in a video captured by one customer, Mr Rudland claimed he was not really the company’s director, saying: “It’s nothing to do with me… I’m just down as a name.”

He added: “If you feel like you’ve been done or whatever, if you feel that way – which is not the case, but I think it’s, everything’s just got out of hand, like – you’re just gonna have to go to the Old Bill. Just go to the police.”

However, he refused to say who was really in charge or provide any contact details.

Bark.com said it had suspended Object Limited from its website after it “received complaints alleging that deposits had been taken without work having been carried out”.

“The company was ultimately banned from our platform in August 2024,” a spokesperson said.

“We will work with all affected customers to provide support during such challenging circumstances.”