In light of the background of a very serious Data Protection Act breach, and John Antrobus’ roles as both data and budget controller for Brentford Dock Ltd, the question of John Antrobus’ qualifications was raised with Paul Booth, a Brentford Dock Ltd director and block director for Julius and Marcus Courts.
The question as to whether John Antrobus had earned a BA (Hons) was put to Paul Booth.
The BA (Hons) post nominal appeared after John Antrobus’ name soon after Michael Richards & Company and Adam Goldwater took over the estate management of Brentford Dock and John Antrobus had been TUPE-ed over to Michael Richards and Co. Michael Richards & Co.* apparently took full control as the managing agents of Brentford Dock on the 1st of April 2011.
Various Brentford Dock residents having searched their archived documents could not find reference to John Antrobus and his use of post nominals in any previous correspondence during his work for Pembertons/Peverels or Cledor (the previous Brentford Dock managing agents), prior to his joining Michael Richards & Co.
In an email response by Paul Booth regarding questions about John Antrobus’ qualifications, Paul Booth wrote: “The problem we have is that he never actually claimed to have a degree, his claim is only that he studied for a degree’ which, although misleading, is not untrue. It would be a much more serious matter if he had claimed to have a degree.” [SIC]
Evidence was then provided to Paul Booth showing the use of the BA (Hons) post nominal on correspondence to both lessees (shareholders) and residents. The evidence provided to Paul Booth showed, John Antrobus use of the post nominal on the letter to Leaseholders titled “Service Charge Budget and 10 Year Plan, Brentford Dock” dated the 23rd March 2012. John Antrobus was also using the post nominal on his email signature, an example of which was provided to Paul Booth.
On receipt of this evidence Paul Booth wrote: “Thank you for this, this is a clear claim to actually hold a degree which we have good grounds to believe to be false.” [SIC]
Paul Booth was also specifically asked about the Ref: LON/00AT/LDC/2012/0072 in relation to Brentford Dock, surprisingly Paul Booth replied: “The case reference you have given does not relate to Brentford Dock”. [SIC]
This reference related to Brentford Dock and specifically the Boiler Replacement: Landlord and Tenant act 1985 – section 20ZA Ref: LON/00AT/LDC/2012/0072 carried out on Brentford Dock. This was for the replacement of the Brentford Dock Estate boilers at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
It is surprising that Paul Booth appeared not to confirm the true relevance of the reference and that to which it referred. A simple question to the remainder of the Brentford Dock board by Paul Booth regarding the reference number would have elicited the truth, had that not been forthcoming from the estate office.
John Antrobus was office manager at the time of this boiler replacement project and was actively involved in the communications to the residents. John Antrobus used the post nominal in the submission of documents by Michael Richards & Company (who have subsequently been restyled as Michael Richards Property Management Ltd) on behalf of Brentford Dock Ltd to the Residential Property Tribunal Service as part of the Stage 1 Consultation.
Soon after the use of the BA (Hons) post nominal on documents to residents by John Antrobus ceased.
In written correspondence Paul Booth also stated that John Antrobus’ CV cannot be found in the office. This would clearly indicate that Paul Booth (and possibly others) had serious enough concerns in regard to John Antrobus’ claim to look in to the matter further. After making the statement “…this is a clear claim to actually hold a degree which we have good grounds to believe to be false”, a full and proper appraisal of the matter should have ensued. The lack of due diligence regarding this and other matters concerning the Brentford Dock estate office is quite shocking and grounds for concern.
The matter of John Antrobus’ qualifications was put to the Brentford Dock Board by a resident who had previously visited the Pembertons office and had witnessed on their charts that John Antrobus did not have a property management qualification. In the minutes of the Brentford Dock Ltd. Shareholders Meeting 26 October 2010, chaired by Leslie Anne Ferber there was a question asked of John Antrobus’ then employers, Pembertons regarding John Antrobus’ (JA) professional qualifications, the answer to which was “JA does not have such a qualification and is not currently working towards getting one”. This we can assume also means the possession of a property management qualification or similar awarded by a University or Polytechnic. As we know Paul Booth stated: “The problem we have is that he never actually claimed to have a degree, his claim is only that he studied for a degree which, although misleading, is not untrue. It would be a much more serious matter if he had claimed to have a degree.” From this statement it could also be reasonably argued that John Antrobus did not have a degree in any discipline outside of property management.
Enquiries were made by Paul Booth and Brentford Dock residents with the institution that it was believed John Antrobus had attended; however, the institution cited the Data Protection Act for not confirming the information or addressing the concerns put to them. The institution stated that they would require John Antrobus to put in writing to them his permission to release any such information.
In light of the lies and false statements that were and continue to be made by the Brentford Dock estate management, in regard to this matter it was requested that any clarification regarding the possible attainment of a degree by John Antrobus would be confirmed in writing by the awarding institution, so there could be no grounds for any doubt or confusion. No response or clarification was forthcoming from John Antrobus, or his employer Adam Goldwater, Michael Richards & Co. No response was received from Veronica Wray Brentford Dock Ltd. Chair, Mike Edwards Brentford Dock Ltd. Deputy Chair, or for that matter the remainder of the Brentford Dock Ltd. Board, (including Prof Chris Birch) all of whom had received copies of the correspondence in this matter.
From the content of subsequent correspondence with Paul Booth it is somewhat disturbing that Paul Booth stated that he had not asked John Antrobus directly about the truth of the matter. It is also believed from communications with Paul Booth that he did not ask Adam Goldwater (Michael Richards & Co.) his employer to confirm the truth so there could be no further doubts or questions about John Antrobus in this regard.
One excuse put forward in order to avoid confirming the status and competence of John Antrobus is that John Antrobus is an employee of Michael Richards & Co. and residents are not entitled to know about his qualifications. It is the right of any resident to have the comfort of knowing the qualifications and competence of the office staff handling their data, budget and other estate issues.
Furthermore, residents who were trying to establish the extent of the serious breach of private and confidential data were also told not to pursue this matter further if they wanted cooperation from the board in their enquires in to the serious data breach.
One would expect that any person in a position of trust would want to bring clarity to such an important issue. John Antrobus should for the purposes of transparency allow the institution to confirm his study with them and any awards, if any that were achieved.
Paul Booth (Paul Booth – Principal Programme Engineer – Network Rail) said of John Antrobus’ claim to a BA (Hons) “…we have good grounds to believe to be false.” The only assumption that residents of Brentford Dock can come to is that residents have been wilfully lied to and deceived by an unjustifiable claim of the accomplishment. Should the claim be found to be untrue, this in itself is gross misconduct and, therefore, reason for further action. The actions and non-response of the Brentford Dock board could lead a reasonable person to believe that they know that this claim is untrue and have tried to cover up the matter or brush the matter under the carpet. Both situations are totally unacceptable.
As pointed out previously, clarification of John Antrobus’ qualifications is a very simple and easy process. In the light of John Antrobus’ role as Estate Manager for Brentford Dock, residents and shareholders have a right to know whether John Antrobus’ representations are true or not.
On the basis of Mr Paul Booth’s statements a reasonable person could only conclude that John Antrobus Estate Manager for Brentford Dock deliberately falsified/lied about his qualifications. This may or may not have been with the connivance of others.
Concerned residents and shareholders.