Council deputy leader’s company took large sums from investors before firm folded with zero sales
Exclusive: Before becoming Reform UK’s deputy leader at West Northamptonshire Council James Petter ran a failed business which left many investors regretting their involvement.
By Sarah Ward
The deputy leader of West Northamptonshire Council headed up a business venture that failed and lost investors large sums of money, NN Journal can exclusively reveal.
James Petter, who is also the cabinet member for economy, business and leisure, is the sole remaining director of Hydro Navitas Solutions Ltd, a company that tried to sell a US made fire suppression product into the UK market without success.
NN Journal has spoken to former investors of the company who say that Reform UK’s Cllr Petter, 60, who was elected to the council last May, was a poor businessman who ‘wasted lots of money’ and ‘had his own interests at heart rather than the business’.
One investor told NN Journal that he and other family members invested £100,000 and another investor said he had sunk his retirement funds into the venture, without any return and not a single contract won during the six years the company was trading.
Cllr Petter, who is paid around £44,000 for his council role, says his public office is ‘entirely separate’ from his past private business.
Unprofitable
Hydro Navitas Solutions Ltd, was incorporated in April 2015 by Petter and a number of other directors, including former firefighter Ian Smith. The aim was to sell into the UK market an American product called Firefreeze, but after a number of years of trying the directors were not able to get British safety standard certification, in part due to the ingredients being a trade secret.
Cllr Petter’s role as managing director was to try and get contracts with large suppliers such as fire and rescue services and government agencies.
One investor whose family contributed around £100,000 collectively, told NN Journal they had bought into the company because of the product and its association with former firefighters. He was introduced through a friend.
He said:
“Definitely the business was run badly and he [Cllr Petter] wasted lots of money. He paid himself decent money and was hiring cars and things like that, so I would say it wasn’t done as best it could and he had his interests at the heart of it rather than the investors.
“I think he did have full intention for the product to work - he had good intentions behind it, it was just the way he went about it.”
He said he and other investors were never sure of how much money Cllr Petter was paid as a salary but estimates it to have been around the £60,000 mark.
He said:
“Yes, I would put him solely responsible for what happened.
“It was a limited company and there was nothing we could do to get the money back and so we all had to walk away sadly.”
He estimates that altogether over half a million was invested. According to the accounts, the company, which is in the process of being struck off, has outstanding liabilities of £640,712 and owes creditors £338,714.
Another investor, who was a former firefighter and could see the possibilities of the product, said he invested his retirement savings of £15,000 and did not see a penny in return. He estimates several hundreds of thousands of pounds could have been invested in the business, but could not be sure as the board refused to open the accounts to shareholders.
He said:
“Why has the company been left with such debts? Where has all the money gone?
“I think he should be exposed, especially due to the position he has today in the council. It is there in black and white that he is a failed businessman and in my view if you can’t run a business you should not be in charge of such large budgets at the council.”
He said the venture ended on sour terms and he never received an apology from James Petter for the failure.
He said:
“He would open a door, but was never able to close a deal. Which made people think after a few years, is he the right person for the job?”
Ian Smith, who was a former director and had worked alongside Petter, said in his view everything was ‘transparent’ and there was ’nothing underhand’. He says the lack of success was not due to Cllr Petter.
He said:
“It was not a bad product. It was just the wrong product. It was proven to work.
“It was ahead of its time and people were not willing to change. The UK customers wanted more and eventually we ran out of options.”
Response
According to his profile on professional networking site LinkedIn James Petter was a DHL planning manager, before setting up his own business.
Cllr Petter said:
“Hydro Navitas was a privately funded commercial business backed by a small number of investors, with decisions and expenditure agreed collectively by a board rather than by any one individual.
“The company focused on Cold Fire® Firefighting Wetting Agent, a clear alternative to chemically based firefighting and fire suppression agents, which required extensive compliance, testing, and certification, including for police and fire service use. These requirements brought significant costs. The business was then heavily disrupted by Covid, which prevented face to face engagement with clients and brought motorsport activity, a key commercial route, to an abrupt halt.
“The company’s position is being dealt with through the appropriate legal and accounting processes. Matters relating to creditors and outstanding filings are subject to those processes. Any information provided to investors reflected the position at the time, based on professional advice and the commercial arrangements in place.
“My role at West Northamptonshire Council is entirely separate from this past private business, with council decisions taken collectively within strict governance and scrutiny, and accountability exercised through open public processes and the ballot box.”
I'm amazed that none of the investors appear to have carried out due diligence on James Petter. He has 13 appointments on Companies House - 11 of which organisations have been dissolved. Read the filings for those operations and you'll have more questions than answers.
Did he risk any of his own money in the failed business? He mentioned covid - did the company receive any government grants?