An architect who posted fake one-star reviews of businesses run by rivals and exes has been banned from the profession.
Andrew Guy, 41, used pen names in a “menacing and intimidatory” campaign targeting eight companies – including two run by ex-girlfriends.
The Architects Registration Board said one guesthouse owner, who went on just two dates with Guy, had four one-star reviews in late 2018.
Made in different names, they claimed her site was “shocking” with “small, noisy and dirty” rooms.
And a cake stall run by a woman who dated Guy briefly in 2004 had three reviews alleging “terrible, cheap products”.
Fake reviews for other businesses included an architecture firm Guy used to work at and a letting agent he reportedly owed cash.
Guy, who runs BESPRAK Architecture in Havant, Hants, disputed the claims but was not at the hearing.
He previously told the watchdog he had been “maliciously targeted” and his accusers had “perfectly crafted” their complaints.
But the ARB said Guy was the “only connection between ... unconnected businesses”.
The London hearing struck him off for a minimum of two years for unacceptable professional conduct.
Chair Julian Weinberg said: “Mr Guy’s dishonesty was deliberate, intended to cause reputational harm and was demonstrative of a serious lack of integrity. [His] conduct was menacing and intimidatory.”
