A cowboy builder left families thousands of pounds out of pocket after they were enticed by glowing reviews which had actually been written by his friends and family. Three of Billee Hopkinson's victims have spoken out after the rogue trader was jailed for 20 months.
A judge said Hopkinson, 35, "moved from victim to victim with ease" despite having no building qualifications and his firm Ultra Restore Ltd being on the brink of bankruptcy, LancsLive reports. Annabel Isherwood and her husband used Trust A Trader and found Preston based Hopkinson, attracted by his positive reviews.
She and her husband wanted an extension to their home in Clayton Brook, Lancashire, to include an orangery, wrap around extension and porch. Hopkinson visited the house and provided quotes for the work, asking for deposits to be paid and promising a start date of November 2021.
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He assured Annabel the work would be completed by the time she returned to work following her maternity leave. What he failed to mention was that he had no building qualifications, and his firm was on the brink of bankruptcy.
"We'd never had building work done before," Annabel said. "I suppose we were a bit naïve but he seemed trustworthy and his reviews were excellent. We thought we had done our due diligence."
The start date came around and Annabel looked forward to the first stage of the build, the orangery, being completed by Christmas. "It would have been amazing", she said.
Hopkinson knocked holes in the walls, leaving them exposed to the elements, but the family thought it would be short term discomfort to create the home of their dreams. But before long, concerns began to niggle in Annabel’s mind.
“They would leave early or disappear off the job. The van had broken down, or he would be asking for money for tools. It got to the point where I was saying, ‘this isn’t in line with the online reviews’, but we were constantly being told it was all okay," she said.
In January 2022, she said Hopkinson asked for a payment of £4,000 to be paid to a different bank account and, invested in the project, Annabel complied. But shortly after the deposit was paid, she received a call from Trading Standards.
Hopkinson had gone bankrupt a month earlier and a trail of dissatisfied customers had reported shoddy workmanship and unfinished jobs. Katrina Raynor had handed over a disability grant from South Ribble Borough Council to convert her garage for her disabled daughter.
The work was such a poor quality, Ms Raynor’s daughter would not have been able to reach the sink or get into the shower in her wheelchair. When Katrina complained - and eventually told Hopkinson to stay away from her home, he accused her of “playing the disability card” - after pocketing £13,500 of the grant.
Katie Sowerby handed over £13,000 for a loft conversion to be created, to add extra space to her home. By the time Hopkinson left, she had holes in her roof and her home was exposed to the elements. The house was so cold and damp, Katie’s baby was hospitalised with breathing difficulties and her other child spent time away from the family home as it was too uncomfortable to stay.
But despite the warnings, Hopkinson continued in his assurances that all was well with Annabel’s extension. “It was beyond belief that this was happening to us”, Annabel said.
“We were completely blindsided. It has destroyed our trust in people and cost us thousands. My 70-year-old father-in-law has been making 50 mile round trips to help us self build. I have had to learn to lay bricks and we have been working on the project at weekends, while doing our jobs in the week.
“My baby is now toddling but he’s never been able to play in his own garden. We have to take the children out to parks or other people’s houses for them to be able to play. Everything Hopkinson did had to be pulled down and we had to start again. There were holes in the external walls of our house and we had to increase our fuel consumption to try and keep warm. Mice got in and were running upstairs. It is the last thing you want when you have young children who play on the floor.”
In May 2023, Hopkinson was jailed for 20 months at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to three offences under the Unfair Trading Regulations 2020. Judge Ian Unsworth KC said: “The company was failing but you took on more work. I am satisfied that you were deceiving your victims. They all believed you were a reputable builder and your company was a sound entity.”
Hopkinson left £78,000 of shoddy workmanship in his wake. In court, his victims learned he had no formal building qualifications and the reviews on Trust A Trader had been written by friends and family.
Annabel has now instructed a new builder to finish the work started by Hopkinson, but says the overall cost has rocketed, and she will have to wait until early next year for the work to be completed. “We have to just get on with it and try to draw a line under it all”, she said. “It has been absolutely devastating to lose all that money. All we were left with was a wobbly wall and a huge bill.
"It has been the worst experience of our lives. Even when we finish, will it ever be the happy home we dreamed of, or will there always be a bitter taste?”
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