One of the North East’s biggest businesses has had to correct its Companies House records after a “malicious actor” made false amendments.

Vertu Motors, one of the UK’s largest automotive retailers with a network of nearly 200 outlets and annual sales of more than £4bn, has had to rectify a number of changes which saw directors ‘resign’, the firm’s Gateshead headquarters switched to an address in London and a third party listed as being in control of the group.

None of the changes had any effect on the company outside of its Companies House records and it continued to trade as normal. Vertu issued a statement to the Stock Exchange in which it said that its records had been “falsely amended by a malicious actor, such that the public record maintained by Companies House currently states that several of the company’s directors have resigned, and two new directors have been appointed.”

Vertu said it was liaising with Companies House to have the public record corrected and was also looking into preventing further changes being made to its records, as well as working with Companies House to establish how the systems had been accessed to make changes. The company has now obtained an injunction to bring the amendments to a halt.

In a Stock Market update, the company said: “Further to the announcement of November 1 2023, Vertu Motors confirms that its Companies House records now accurately record the current directors of the Company. The incorrect filings will be removed from the record by Companies House in due course. Vertu Motors has also been successful in obtaining an injunction against the malicious actor responsible for the previous false amendments, preventing this individual and his associated company from purporting to represent the Company in any capacity in the future.”

New documents have since been filed to remove ‘Ice Crystal Augustus’ as a director, along with ‘Vertu Motors 888 Ltd’.