Groundhog Day for Loan Note Schemes: Why the Pattern Keeps Repeating and What Loan Note Holders Must Do

It feels like déjà vu. Another loan note scheme collapses. Investors lose savings. Familiar names and structures resurface under a new brand. This isn’t bad luck, it’s a formula. And unless loan note holders act quickly, the pattern will repeat again and again.

The Life Cycle of Loan Notes

Step by step, the same cycle unfolds:

The Target
Vulnerable individuals, often retirees, pension holders, or overseas investors unfamiliar with UK law, are approached.  Often these individuals have seen a polished advertisement and click for more information. 

The Introducers
These loan note schemes are typically presented by unregulated introducers, never regulated financial advisors. These introducers are friendly, persistent, and highly persuasive. Among these schemes, New Capital Link (with figures like Rachel Buscall and convicted fraudster James Baird) appear as the front for these offerings.  Read our blogs here and here.  Brokers that should have conducted genuine due diligence, instead facilitate the spread.  Why?  Because of commission fees of of anything up to 20% of your investment.

The Issuers
A newly minted company with a polished website, glowing claims of credibility, but no transparency. No track record. No real safeguards.

The Trustees
To add a veneer of safety, an offshore “security trustee” is introduced. In practice, they rarely act, and their powers are limited by weak documents. Castle Trust & Management Services Ltd  (now in compulsory liquidation) is a prime example of trustees that looked credible on paper but left investors exposed.

The Paperwork
Loan note certificates and deeds of accession arrive. They look official, with seals and legal jargon, but the protections are often hollow.

The Updates
Investors receive upbeat reports, often padded with stock images and vague timelines. Confidence builds. Then the silence begins. Interest payments stop. Redemption deadlines pass. Emails go unanswered.

The Collapse
The company quietly enters insolvency. Administrators step in. Assets are missing, weak, or restructured. Trustees and administrators collect fees. Investors are left empty-handed.

The Rebirth
Unscrupulous directors reappear under a fresh brand. New brochures. New introducers. A new crop of victims. The cycle begins again.

Case Snapshots: The Evidence Is Clear

This isn’t theory. The cycle is documented across multiple schemes:

High Street Group
Promoted Newcastle city-centre developments with promises of “secure, asset-backed” loan notes. Castle Trust & Management Services Limited acted as security trustee, giving investors’ confidence their capital was protected. In reality, when the group collapsed, security was not enforced, assets had been moved out, and creditors were left chasing claims worth hundreds of millions. Many investors are still left without repayment and with empty promises.

The 79th Group
Marketed loan notes as safe and tied to valuable property and natural resource projects. Initially, Castle Trust was appointed trustee, later replaced by T&T Trustees. Administrators later reported the structure bore hallmarks of a Ponzi-style arrangement, with investor money used to service earlier commitments. Behind the marketing gloss, the group was balance sheet insolvent long before eventual collapse. Loan note holders now face drawn-out insolvency proceedings with little prospect of recovery through administration itself.

Ashbrookes Group Limited / S2 John Street Limited was promoted by New Capital Link and James Baird. Despite claims of property-backed security, the SPV seems behind in the development with loan notes holders reporting missing interest payments, giving cause for concern for redemption payments. 

The Clean Food Growing Company follows a similar pattern – promoted with sustainability messaging by New Capital Link and Rachel Buscall with James Baird giving quotes from Duncan Bannatyne to give credibility, (Duncan Bannatyne later confirmed he had never heard of the company).   Our full blog on this company is here.

William Jackson-related schemes

Companies including Platinum Assets and Developments Ltd and Northumberland Living Limited marketed loan notes with Castle Trust & Management Services Limited named as trustee. Moreover, as with previous schemes, fees were collected but when the loans failed, no known enforcement was carried out. Loan note holders reported missing redemptions and no security recovery, continuing the cycle of false comfort from trustees who did not act.

Different names. Different sectors. The same cycle, again and again.

Why This Pattern Is So Dangerous

This isn’t a handful of unlucky investors. It’s a template designed to repeat.

• Unregulated introducers push the sales pitch.
• Trustees provide a false sense of security but rarely act.
• High returns mask weak or non-existent assets.
• When the music stops, investors are told to wait, while administrators and trustees take their fees first.

Every cycle costs ordinary people their savings, pensions, and futures.

If Your Loan Note Is Overdue or Unpaid, Act Now

If your interest payments have stopped or your redemption date has passed, time is not on your side.

• Do not rely on trustees or administrators, their priority is often their fees, not your recovery.
• Do not assume criminal investigations will return your money: they rarely do.
• Do not delay: another creditor could act first, leaving you at the back of the queue.

In the UK, claims can become time-barred, meaning your legal rights expire if you don’t act in time. That defence can stop your claim completely, even if it is otherwise valid.

Take Action Now

If your loan note payments are overdue, contact Insolvency & Law’s investigations team immediately at investigations@insolvencyandlaw.co.uk.

Delaying action only weakens your position. The cycle has repeated too many times already. Don’t let it repeat again with your investment.

Disclaimer:

Logos used in this post are for identification and commentary purposes only. Insolvency & Law Ltd is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any company named. Use is permitted under fair dealing provisions for reporting, criticism, and matters of public interest.

Disclaimer: Insolvency & Law Ltd is not a firm of solicitors or licensed insolvency practitioners and does not provide legal advice, investment advice, or any regulated services under the Legal Services Act 2007 or the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. All content published by I&L relating to companies mentioned therein, including blogs and podcasts, is provided free of charge for general information and educational purposes only. Therefore, it must not be relied upon as professional advice.

Where appropriate, I&L may take legal assignment of loan notes issued by companies in its own name, for the purpose of enforcement and recovery. In such cases, I&L bears all associated costs and risks, and the original loan note holder is fully insulated from legal expense and liability.