An investigation by the Liverpool ECHO has led to three families describing what happened after contracting a Merseyside building firm for their renovation projects
Paula Staunton on the site of the unfinished building work in New Brighton(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A group of Merseyside people say they lost thousands of pounds after hiring a builder who didn’t complete the job they had been hired for and left their property in a complete mess. An investigation by the Liverpool ECHO has led to three families describing what happened after contracting a Merseyside building firm for their renovation projects.
They each claim to have paid thousands of pounds to a company called Quality Touch Property Maintenance And Repairs Limited (QTPMR), but said they were left with unfinished building work, leaving them out of pocket after hiring new contractors to complete unfinished projects.
According to Companies House, the sole officer currently running QTPMR is Daniel Quinn, and the business is registered at an address in Liverpool city centre, after being changed from Woodchurch Lane in Birkenhead in 2022.
The ECHO has contacted both of these addresses but we were told Mr Quinn was not known or he had moved on.
The ECHO went to six addresses where we thought Mr Quinn might be living, sourced from public information or information passed on by disgruntled customers. The person currently living in one of these addresses told us several people have called at his property looking for Mr Quinn.
We now know of numerous former customers of Mr Quinn who are trying to locate him, including those we have interviewed for this report.
Daniel Quinn is the sole registered officer for a company called Quality Touch Property Maintenance And Repairs Limited(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
People like Paula Staunton and her charity Earth Moves Cooperative, a Wirral-based non-profit organisation which tries to address social isolation and mental health challenges, including support for people with disabilities.
Paula said she hired Daniel Quinn in the autumn of 2024 for a job constructing a large metal shed. She said she received a quote for approximately £4,000 to £5,000, later paying him £2,500 up front.
Recalling how she first came across Mr Quinn, Paula said: “About this time last year, the charity’s shed got burned down, so we wanted a new metal shed and Daniel Quinn came along after we put an advertisement out. At first, he appeared nice, even shy, and it seemed like a good fit.
“We paid most of the bill upfront, for materials like the cement, and that’s when things started to go south. He ended up doing about £500 worth of work, but hardly ever showed up. When we questioned him about what was going on, he became very nasty and threatening.
“I reminded him we are a charity and told him we were not happy losing all that money and said we would look to go to the police, take him to court and get a CCJ against him.”
Paula added: “He took money from a small community charity, didn’t do the work, and he had absolutely no qualms about it.
“The court set a judgement ordering him to pay us back the money, which of course, he never has.
“I don’t know if we ever will get the money back, but I’m speaking out in the hope he can’t do this to anyone else.”
Paula Staunton on the site of the unfinished building work in New Brighton(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The County Court Judgement made against Daniel Quinn’s business in Paula’s case made a judgement for the claimant against him to the value of £1,500 to be paid to the claimant, plus £15 for interest and £203 in costs. It was ordered to have been paid by August 13 2025 but Paula says she has not seen a penny of this money. It also says the court is satisfied that Mr Quinn was aware papers had been served on him and he had not provided any evidence to the court in his defence.
All the claims made about Mr Quinn in this article have been put to him. Mr Quinn has indicated that he did not wish to make a comment about the allegations levelled at him.
The ECHO investigated whether there were any other CCJs against Mr Quinn’s company and found three separate listings on the official register at Trust Online. These covered the period April 2021 to August 2022, totalling £19,565.
When asked about the CCJs registered against his company, Mr Quinn said he was not aware of any judgments against QTPMR.
One other claim made against Mr Quinn came from Claire Costello and her partner Paul Costello. Claire said they filed for the return of £1,594.63 from QTPMR, after paying to have their garden wall rebuilt.
Claire added: “Mr Quinn requested three payments from me, in advance of completion, which he claimed were for labour costs, and for building materials.
“I paid him, as requested. However, a significant part of these materials and services were never provided.
“He repeatedly failed to turn up, as promised, to continue the work, and made further demands for even more money from me, which I declined to pay. He then abandoned the job, leaving our garden in an appalling mess, and forcing me to employ another builder at greater cost, to complete the work.
“When I challenged him about what was going on, he became aggressive and it was frightening, so that was that, and we never heard from him again. We’ve basically said goodbye to the money we spent.”
Claire Costello from the Wirral.(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The ECHO has seen a warrant issued for the recovery of £1,709.63 with Paul Costello listed as the creditor and Daniel Quinn listed as the debtor, and dated May 19 2022.
Both Paula and Claire said they contacted Merseyside Police, the trading standards department at Wirral Council and the citizens advice bureau, but said their cases were seen as civil matters or not followed up.
The ECHO contacted both Wirral Council and the National Consumer Helpline at the Citizens Advice Consumer Service (NCHCACS). We were told by Wirral’s local authority there was no ongoing investigation into Mr Quinn’s company, as it had re-located to Liverpool city centre in 2022.
After enquiring whether it had received any complaints about QTPMR, a spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said it is unable to divulge any information due to data protection regulations.
NCHCACS said it does not comment on individuals or specific companies, and that includes providing complaint figures relating to individuals.
Jane Taylor said she tried to report Mr Quinn to Merseyside Police, trading standards and the citizens advice bureau (CAB), but says she was advised her case fell below the criminal threshold, and would be more appropriate for possible civil action. Jane said she never had any follow up from trading standards or CAB.
Jane said: “It’s really hard to describe the frustration. You think that if something goes wrong, you can call on these organisations to help you, but you end up just banging your head against a brick wall.
“All the while, there’s this fella swanning around with your money, and there’s no obvious way to get it back. The injustice of it gets you down, and you just feel powerless.
“I’ve lost money, like so many others have, but I’ve also lost my faith in the authorities to protect customers from people like Daniel Quinn.
Jane said she contacted Mr Quinn’s company at the start of this year, and accepted a quote to remove an old garage and install a new one, adding: “I paid him £4,500 and he came and did two hours work, left the garage totally unstable and dangerous, and never came back.
A photo of Jane Taylor’s old garage after she said Daniel Quinn stopped working on it(Image: Handout)
“When I tried to contact him, he became angry and nasty. In the end, he just refused to give me my money back, and left a few bricks stacked up on top of each other. It then cost us thousands more to get the job done properly.”
Jane said she considered trying to get a CCJ against Mr Quinn but could not find him to have the papers served.
All three of the households mentioned in this report hold very little hope they will receive financial recompense from QTPMR, and are very critical of the lack of regulation in place to protect customers looking to invest in home improvements.
Nonetheless, they want to share their stories in the hope no one else will experience what they have gone through.
Daniel Quinn declined to comment on this story.