A newly elected Conservative MP can be revealed as the man behind a network of controversial companies that his local council says have been subject to hundreds of Trading Standards complaints.



One of the companies run by Bridgend MP Jamie Wallis — a claims management firm — was prevented from representing customers at employment tribunals following a Ministry of Justice investigation.

He told BuzzFeed News the Trading Standards figures disclosed by Bridgend council were "nonsense" and said his family business was threatening legal action against his own local authority.

Wallis became the first Tory MP in the South Wales constituency since 1983 when he unseated Labour’s incumbent Madeleine Moon at December’s general election.

Companies House records show that on December 20, seven days after his narrow victory, Wallis quit as a director of at least seven companies providing various online services: Fields Associates Ltd, Rapid Data Recovery Ltd, Fields Data Recovery Ltd, Quickie Divorce Ltd, Fields Group Ltd, Fields Holdings Ltd and Digzoo Ltd.

During a long-running career as an online entrepreneur before he entered politics, Wallis was previously a director of a number of similar companies including Action Direct (UK) Ltd and UK Digital Solutions Ltd.

On its website, Fields Group states that its brands include “one of the UK's leading data recovery businesses” and a “market leader” in data security. But the activities of the companies operated by Wallis and his family raise questions about his conduct in business before he came to Westminster.

In 2011, the Ministry of Justice blocked Wallis’ firm Action Direct, which represented people making claims at employment tribunals, from taking on new clients. Following an investigation by the MoJ’s Claims Management Regulator, Action Direct was ordered to remove all its advertising and websites from the internet and told not to advise any further claimants.

The Claims Management Regulator said in a statement at the time: “We take strict enforcement action against businesses that fail to comply with the rules governing their conduct. A full investigation is undertaken to establish and substantiate the facts before steps are taken to cancel a business’ authorisation.”

Wallis resigned as the director of Action Direct on 22 February 2012, but Companies House records show the company remained owned by Fields Holdings Ltd, of which Wallis was the ultimate controlling party.

In 2018, the Mail on Sunday published a story headlined “Action Direct payment protection insurance claim firm bullies sent me a £400 bill”, which contained claims that it had billed a customer despite not carrying out any work for them.

Wallis told BuzzFeed News that he had asked for his own company’s licence to be revoked. “For the avoidance of doubt, the company voluntarily requested the removal of certification from activities it no longer wished to pursue as part of a strategic review conducted by myself,” he said. “I have not been a director of this company since February 2012 and therefore cannot comment on operational matters relating to the 2018 period.”

Asked about the Claims Management Regulator's statement referring to an investigation and enforcement action, Wallis said: "My response stands. I've not been a Director of that company since 2012."