The boss of a Wirral memorial business strongly denies accusations he has taken hundreds of pounds off customers and not followed through with the work they had paid for. Thomas Smith said: “I am not taking deposits off people and jetting off into the sunset.”
Mackie Memorials is a business operating on the Wirral providing custom memorials and headstones for its customers. The firm had a base in Birkenhead and its Liscard branch has closed.
Wirral Council is now urging people to report the company to the police following complaints received by the local authority’s cemetery service. A spokesperson said it has suspended the company from operating in council cemeteries and Merseyside Police has also confirmed to the ECHO it is working with the local authority.
Mr Smith has been accused by multiple people of not delivering on orders after people paid him hundreds of pounds. People have also told the ECHO he owes thousands of pounds to Wirral Council and his landlord Birkenhead Commercial Limited said he has been evicted from the company’s base on Cleveland Street due to non-payment of rent.
Speaking to the ECHO, Mr Smith strongly denies the accusations against him. He said: “The business has gone into difficulties but I am still actively working. I am still actively trying to resolve these issues.”
He added: “If they were wanting the stone, it’s either in the process of being made, it’s with our stockists or suppliers, or it has been held up by the situation with the council.
“I am actively trying to resolve this. I am not taking deposits off people and jetting off into the sunset. I am not a piece of s**t. I am trying to do this to fix this problem. It’s our permits from Wirral Council.”
He claimed he was suspended by the council due to missing a single payment over the phone on December 23.
People are being urged to collect memorials(Image: Liverpool Echo)
An appeal has now gone out to people to come and collect their headstones from the Cleveland Street site which is accessible to the public. The ECHO was told 11 people collected stones on March 4.
A representative of Mr Smith’s former landlord Birkenhead Commercial Limited told the ECHO: “We just want everyone to come and get them. We would like to see them get to the right places. We are keen to see that because we need to repatriate them all.”
Mackie Memorials took on the name “Mackie” from long-standing Wirral business E.F. Mackie Limited which was based on Rake Lane in Wallasey. Thomas Smith set up the business in 2023 working out of the former shop on Liscard Way.
According to Companies House, Mackie Memorials Limited’s accounts and confirmation statement are overdue. An application was made to strike off the company on March 3.
One day later, this action was temporarily suspended “as an objection to the striking off has been received by the Registrar”.
Mr Smith’s former landlord said they wanted everyone to come and get their family gravestones(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A Wirral Council spokesperson previously said: “As a result of ongoing concerns over Mackie Memorials, Wirral Council has suspended the company from operating in council cemeteries and is considering its longer-term exclusion from the Memorial Mason Registration Scheme due to its conduct.
“If residents have concerns over the service they have received from Mackie Memorials they are encouraged to report the matter through official channels – Citizens Advice Consumer Service, Report Fraud – the UK’s national service for reporting cybercrime and fraud and Merseyside Police.”
If anyone is affected by the issues raised in this article, please contact edward.barnes@reachplc.com. Wirral Council declined to comment on claims it is owed money by Mackie Memorials.