A COLD call company set up from a 27-year-old's mother’s house is being investigated over claims it was responsible for dialling more than a million numbers a day.

Louis Kidd, 27, launched Prodial Limited in November 2014 from his mother’s house in Catherine Vale, Woodingdean, before selling it on to business partner Phil Carrington for £40,000 in July.

During its last three months of trading it turned over £100,000 a month before the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) stepped in to investigate.

Cold calling is not unlawful in itself, but the ICO warned Prodial that it faced a "number of serious allegations" that it was operating outside the applicable regulations.

The company ceased operating and was subsequently liquidated because it would be unable to pay costs to suppliers or penalties levied by the ICO if the allegations were upheld.

The Argus visited Mr Carrington’s house, but he refused to answer the door, telling the reporter to talk to the receivers.

Ian Dronsfield from liquidator Bridgestones said: “The principle reason for the liquidation was that the company was advised by the ICO its method of operation fell outside the regulations and consequently it was in breach of the regulations.

“At that stage it ceased operation and could not continue to sell its product.

“Without sales, and therefore without income, it could not continue.

“The company’s business was to provide leads to users that required them. It focused on customers within the PPI industry.”

A source told The Argus that Prodial was accused of using an automated messaging system to dial will over a million separate numbers a day offering help to claim mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (“PPI”).

Accountant Beverley Adams, who left the company in September after a falling out with Mr Carrington, said she was shocked the company was being investigated.

She added: “I wouldn’t have anything to do with something that wasn’t kosher – I’m a very kosher-type book-keeper.

“I just helped them do the accounts and made sure the bank was done and that was it really. That was my involvement and I don’t really know what they doing or anything.

“I like to make sure people were paid and I was just a 100 per cent clean book-keeper so I don’t do anything I don’t feel comfortable with.”

The ICO declined to comment pending the outcome of the investigation.

HOME-BASED FIRM MADE £100K EVERY MONTH

IN A modest Woodingdean house, investigators say a small team set about making their fortunes with calls we have come to hate.

Louis Kidd and Phil Carrington masterminded Prodial – a firm that grew from making £16,000 to £100,000 a month in less than a year, allegedly by sending automated PPI refund messages to millions of people a day.

They all worked from home, with Kidd’s office and the original registered business address his mother’s house in Brighton. Carrington’s office was in a large detached house in rural Ansty.

Shortly after setting up the firm in November last year, it is claimed Prodial took delivery of a number of servers to allow them – through a third-party company – to make millions of simultaneous calls.

An automated message would be sent, giving those who answered an option to press five to speak to an advisor.

If the recipients of the calls – sometimes vulnerable people – pressed five, their details were logged onto a database and it is suggested that Prodial would sell the data on to companies for anywhere from 50p to £1.

Marketing experts say the typical success rate for this type of call is roughly 0.5%.

This means, in order to make £100,000 a month, they would have to make at least 1.3 million calls a day selling information for 50p.

By July, Kidd sold his share of the company to Carrington for £40,000, who took over as director and continued to make six figures.

The operation ended after a meeting on November 10 in which Carrington told liquidators the Information Commissioner’s Office had been in touch and would be investigating.