One of the North East鈥檚 biggest businesses has had to correct its Companies House records after a 鈥渕alicious actor鈥 made false amendments.

Vertu Motors, one of the 海角视频鈥檚 largest automotive retailers with a network of nearly 200 outlets and annual sales of more than 拢4bn, has had to rectify a number of changes which saw directors 鈥榬esign鈥, the firm鈥檚 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 鈥渇alsely amended by a malicious actor, such that the public record maintained by Companies House currently states that several of the company鈥檚 directors have resigned, and two new directors have been appointed.鈥

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: 鈥淔urther 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.鈥

New documents have since been filed to remove 鈥業ce Crystal Augustus鈥 as a director, along with 鈥榁ertu Motors 888 Ltd鈥.