Builder Jailed for Defrauding Homeowners, Funding Lavish Lifestyle

An unscrupulous builder has been imprisoned after defrauding homeowners throughout the West Midlands, leaving them with properties requiring £1.6 million in remedial work. According to Trading Standards, Adam Jones, residing in Crickhowell, Powys, deceived clients and utilized substantial advance payments to acquire luxury vehicles and construct an opulent barn conversion. Operating via Advannnced Construction Ltd, a company based in Shropshire, Jones, aged 41, left clients with incomplete projects. He committed these offenses while awaiting trial for a comparable scheme conducted under a separate business entity. At Birmingham Crown Court, Jones pleaded guilty to fraud and received a sentence of three years and nine months in prison. Prosecutors representing trading standards stated that Jones, whose address is New Road, Crickhowell, engaged in the mis-selling of home improvement services to consumers through Advannnced Construction Ltd from April 2021 to June 2023. The court heard that he enrolled individuals into payment plans for contracts valued between £7,000 and £163,000. He then obligated them to make weekly payments, which he aggressively pursued, irrespective of whether any work had been completed during that specific week. Investigators reported that one individual paid over £70,000 for a two-storey extension, only to be left with a single-storey breeze block structure. The victim’s roof sustained damage and now leaks, while previously installed solar panels are non-functional. The cost estimated to finalize the construction for Jones’s victim is up to £130,000. Two other individuals disbursed nearly £20,000 under the mistaken belief that supplementary work was necessary to secure building control approval; this claim was untrue, and no additional work was performed. Trading Standards indicated that Jones would dispatch contractors to certain properties to perform the “bare minimum” of work, thereby sustaining the impression that the project was ongoing and validating his demands for payment. If clients expressed concerns, Jones responded with intimidation, threatening to remove his workforce. Investigators stated that he had previously been sentenced in June of the preceding year to 20 months in prison for offenses committed under a different company identity. The National Trading Standards Regional Investigations Team, operating through Birmingham City Council, conducted his prosecution. Councillor Sam Forsyth, who chairs the council’s licensing and public protection committee, described the situation as a “shocking case” where individuals’ diligently earned savings were used to finance Jones’s extravagant way of life. Lord Michael Bichard, chair of National Trading Standards, commented, “Fobbing victims off with lies and false promises, the defendant used aggressive sales practices to demand cash from his victims on a weekly basis for work that was either never started, left incomplete or was wholly deficient.” He added, “Mr Jones had no qualms about indulging himself with top-of-the-range vehicles and living in a luxurious barn conversion off the back of what was effectively a pyramid scheme which left consumers thousands of pounds out of pocket.”