HMRC had used extended verification for eight months as a reason not to give the refund. Livewire then invoked the Judicial Review process to force HMRC to make its decision one way or another.
The ploy of invoking Judicial Review worked. But resulted in HMRC decision s to refuse the refund even though there was no VAT fraud in the supply chain. Livewire may now appeal to the VAT Tribunal and may seek a referral to the European Court of Justice.
We appreciate that HMRC are experiencing many problems within our trade sector but we are disappointed with their tactics bearing in mind by their own admission there are no missing traders nor has the Revenue incurred a loss within any of our deals it seems impossible that our input claim could be invalid said Livewire director Richard Gallant.
It appears from their actions as though HMRC were unwilling to defend the Judicial Review we brought and by acting as they did have thrown a spotlight upon their failure to conduct enquiries in the manner they had previously claimed.We hoped that the Judicial Review would give us the opportunity to have a court look at the substantial evidence that HMRC are acting disproportionately and unreasonably by completing an eight month extended verification .
Unfortunately by HMRC giving this negative decision two days prior to our court hearing they have succeeded in denying our case from being heard.We are now faced with more expense by following the VAT Tribunal route. Weare hoping to get a hearing early in 2007.
Ironically Livewire s own web site carries a link to HMRC s website. The company receives all goods purchased from outside the EEC into a central hub in Dusseldorf. It will not open a new account without checking out a potential customer s solicitors bank and obtaining trade references.
Don Mavin of VAT consultants Vantis who advised Livewire said: The client decided to go for judicial review after delays by Customs and no response to questions of the progress of their enquiries. While the decision is not what the client wanted it nevertheless calls a halt to the endless enquiries being undertaken by Customs in their case and the client now knows where they stand .

Carphone Warehouse CFO Roger Taylor said last week that Carphone had retained the right to sell Vodafone upgrades. Taylor suggested that upgrades account for up to 50 per cent of the lost Vodafone business.
But Vodafone claimed upgrades through Carphone amounted to closer 15 per cent of the business the pair have done in the past.
A Vodafone spokesperson said: Neither party came back to the table cap in hand. It s not a change in policy. The number of upgrades is not significant amounting to some 15-20 per cent of the business Carphone does with Vodafone not the 40-50 per cent that s been talked about. The revenue implications are even smaller because of the commission structure.
She added: We re only a couple of weeks into the 4U deal and we re delighted with the sales and the relationship in general. We are totally committed to it as far as the retail consumer is concerned.

O2 said it wants to form an exclusive club of the best wireless data companies in the UK and help members increase data usage among mobile users.
It said that the new programme aims to provide leadership and recognise key partners with outstanding data expertise. Like its O2 Advance scheme the data programme sets out performance criteria for dealers to gain membership to the club and rewards them with benefits to grow their businesses.
O2 will offer dealers in its data club official O2 certification which recognises them as preferred data resellers. It also offers additional marketing support on lead generation promotional activities and incentives. O2 said it will guarantee commission payments for dealers on data connections.
O2 is also looking to offer additional support to partners with recruitment access to kit and information sharing.
Details were still being finalised as Mobile News went to press.

Webber was responsible for putting together 3 s long-awaited business proposition ear-marked for launch on February 1.
Nick Armitage who reported to head of distributor sales Peter Butler has also left.
A total of 130 staff have been made redundant from 3 s UK business. More staff will be re-deployed in different roles.
The Link operations director Ian Parpworth is set to join 3 in the New Year to oversee the store roll out. 3 has also recruited Kevin Russell from 3 in Australia as deputy chief executive. Russell is expected to replace Fuller who is likely to take retirement in the Summer.
Canning Fok managing director of parent company Hutchison Whampoa is understood to have set up home in the UK to oversee the operation going forward.

Jacqui Brookes the CEO of the Federation of Communication Services (FCS) has been awarded an OBE for services to the industry in the Queens New Year Honours.

FCS chairman Ted Beddoes said: Jacquis award is richly deserved and makes a fantastic end to the 25th anniversary year of the FCS. It is great news that through her diligent work the FCS and its Members are being recognised in this way – the UK continues to present a dynamic competitive environment with great opportunities for the new and developing businesses the FCS represents.

The award recognises Brookes work in representing small and medium enterprises with the Government and the telecoms regulator OFCOM.

Brookes has been involved in the radio fixed and mobile telecommunications industry for more than 15 years. Membership of the FCS has increased more than threefold since Brookes took the role of CEO in 2002.

Brookes was originally appointed in 1990 to manage FCS trade association projects. Her experience covers representation to Government and regulators on radio spectrum competition markets and consumer issues developing self regulatory schemes including industry codes of practice staging conferences and seminars and building FCS information services.

The Prada phone follows other fashion-led LG handset which have sold more than six million outside South Korea.
LG Mobile marketing manager John Bernard said: It will look like no other handset. In the same way that the Chocolate was unique in its design because of its heat sensitive keypad the Prada phone will also be unique in its design.
Bernard said that no exclusive deals had yet been struck with either retailers or networks but that one of each should get a limited
exclusivity period on the device.
It just depends on who is hungriest he said.

Sources claim that Vodafone will continue to cut ties with distributors through 2007 after it terminated Hugh Symons distribution contract before Christmas until only Yes Telecom and one other are left.

One source said: It had already decided to cut Hugh Symons contract. Everybody knew that. Stuart Henry bought Hugh Symons some time but Vodafone had already made up its mind. It will end up working with just Yes Telecom and one other [distributor].

Hugh Symons decided to pull Vodafone connections from its portfolio on January 1 after Vodafone dropped the package available to Hugh Symons dealers by around 50 per cent. Officially Hugh Symonss contract with Vodafone runs to March 31 but its diminished commercial terms preclude new connections.

Hugh Symons refused to comment.

Mobile News reported in November when Vodafone dropped Fone Logistics that Hugh Symons alongside Kent distributor MoCo would also be dropped. MoCo is no longer distributing Vodafone although it retains its status as a direct Vodafone dealer.

Contrary to reports in other press MoCo retains its distribution relationship with 3 and expects to ramp up sales when 3 launches its business offering in April. Distributors must connect 1000 consumer contracts per month to qualify for 3s accelerator bonus and MoCo has not consistently met targets.

But it maintains that its relationship with 3 remains in tact and that it has always been based on future business connections.

The appointment of Northamber the largest UK owned trade distributor of IT and communications equipment as a distribution partner sees the T-Mobile significantly boost its presence within the SME market.
According to T-Mobile head of indirect business sales Adrian Williams the new partnership will provide Northamber s IT reseller customers all 5000 of them with access to the complete range of T-Mobile products and services.
T-Mobile s product range will line up alongside Northamber s existing range of servers storage security laptops and desktop PCs printers software networking and components. The distributor s efforts will initially be focused on T-Mobile s 3.5G HSDPA Web n Walk card.
Williams says: Concentrating on the Web n Walk card to begin with makes sense. The product fits well with Northamber s existing product offering and gives it a simple proposition to put to its customers. We recognise that asking anyone to actively sell the complete T-Mobile portfolio from day one is a tall order.
Experience
Northamber has massive experience in this sector with an impressive customer base of key resellers. They understand their market which works in a very different way to our established distribution channels and they ll bridge the gap between us as a network and the IT reseller he says.
The launch of HSDPA is a significant development for IT resellers. There are also signs that manufacturers are looking to embed the technology in their laptops which will lead to widespread adoption.
Northamber will not be the only IT distributor on T-Mobile s books.
I think there s space for a handful of IT distributors to work side by side he says.
Northamber already has experience of deploying hardware and providing remote access. We re providing it with an extension to its existing product range. Northamber isn t looking to encroach on T-Mobile s existing distribution channels. We re mainly talking about a data focused proposition which provides a good fit for both of us. It s a long term initiative on our parts.
Hugh Symons business manager Bob Sweetlove believes that IT resellers are well-placed to sell into the SME community in theory.
Northamber is used to shifting boxes and making a margin on each box he says. How is it going to cope with a commission-based model? Or has T-Mobile rewritten the commercials for IT distributors?
The networks revisit the IT channel on a cyclical basis. T-Mobile is not breaking any new ground. Now that data is becoming a more viable proposition IT resellers are an attractive route to market.
Continues Sweetlove: It makes sense for T-Mobile to sell products like Web n Walk through IT resellers but what about the rest of the T-Mobile portfolio? How will the likes of Northamber deal with voice products and business contracts? I don t feel threatened or compromised. I m not frightened of competition from the IT sector.
Mobility
Fone Logistics head of marketing Julien Parven said: T-Mobile won t be the only ones to go down this route.
IT companies are not selling mobile they are selling mobility. These guys are used to selling infrastructure solutions and communications. The likes of Northamber are as much a service/solutions provider as they are a box shifter.
It makes sense for the guy looking after your IT infrastructure and corporate email inside the office to take care of it when it goes on the road. Rather than let the IT reseller muscle in on our market we need to look at moving into theirs. There are lots of similarities between mobile and IT channels. Both have distributors dealers and systems integrators. We have plans in place.
He goes on: The existing channel hasn t got behind Web n Walk; I don t think it s as compelling a proposition as T Mobile thinks. This could be a last ditch attempt to win it some penetration and market share.
Northamber was unavailable for comment as Mobile News went to press.

Northamber factfile
Founded in 1980
Largest UK-owned trade-only IT distributor
Vendor list includes: Acer

The concession on Harrods third floor was a Carphone Warehouse outlet until earlier this year. It features Vodafone s new store design so far rolled out to 72 of its 348 stores.
Vodafone head of retail Tom Devine said: Every handset we sell is available on pre-pay and because of the kind of customers we expect we will be stocking more high-end models. We usually sell two BlackBerrys a week in other stores but we ll sell more than that here.

Customers will have secure access to mini statements and balance enquiries from their mobile phone. Any information displayed is automatically deleted. No personal details are stored on the handset itself.
Alliance & Leicester director of e-commerce Ian Tandy said: Accessing banking details via a mobile phone is the next natural step and one we think our current account customers will embrace.