A convicted fraudster and a sex offender have been running a number of businesses in Balerno, just outside of Edinburgh, the Herald can reveal.
An aesthetics clinic, a cleaning company and one offering home help are all linked to Barry Stevenson and Iain Fisher.
Barry Stevenson, who has also been known as Barry Stevenson-Hamilton, Barry Fisher, Barry Hamilton, Barry John Fisher and Barry James Fisher, was jailed for 33 months in 2022 after tricking 49 customers into signing up for pre-paid funeral plans which did not exist.
The 40-year-old pocketed £130,000 from victims including 99-year-old Betsy MacRae who had given him £5,000 for funeral plans for herself and her 80-year-old daughter, Betsy Douglas.
Read More:
-
Man accused of murdering Annan dad vomits as forensic evidence discussed
-
Questions over police use of warnings after Lord Advocate u-turns on secret guidance
-
Former nurse sentenced for embezzlement from children’s charity
The conman was later also convicted of posing as a registered nurse during the Covid pandemic, for which he was struck off the register by the Scottish Social Services Council.
The panel found: "There is little evidence you acknowledge your failings and the pattern of behaviour and lack of insight suggest the behaviour is likely to be repeated."
Business partner Iain Fisher was sentenced to a year in prison and was placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely in 2014 after being convicted of assaulting a sleeping man in Prestwick, Ayrshire.
Valka Aesthetics & Beauty Ltd was incorporated on August 6 of this year with Barry Fisher as its sole director, and a registered address in Balerno.
Another company, Home Helps UK, is also registered to the same address.
Valka promised: "Our team of Harley street trained practitioners have the knowledge, skill and ability to safely deliver a range of treatments. Led by our Clinic Director with focus on safe and correct treatment at all times.
"We pride ourselves in our safe and ethical processes to ensure the correct treatment is recommended for our patients."
Mr Fisher's new business first came to light in early September, when a former employee watched a documentary about his conviction.
They alerted members of a support group for victims of the Stevenson funeral scam, who confirmed Mr Fisher's identity.
Valka has since applied to be voluntarily struck off and its website taken down. A complaint has been raised with the insolvency service. There is no suggestion that any of its operations were illegal.
The beauty sector remains largely unregulated, as the funeral service was before Mr Stevenson's conviction.
To inject substances such as Botox there is no requirement to hold a licence or even be insured.
Certificates of training can be obtained online in a matter of hours, and there is no requirement for premises to be inspected.
Barry and Iain Fisher are also shareholders of Titan Cleaning & Facilities Management Ltd, which was registered to an address in London with Companies House.
However, correspondence for the company has been delivered to the same address in Balerno where Valka was registered.
The company took over a host of contracts from a dissolved company named Amigo Cleaning Services, including in NHS facilities, dentists, and after school clubs. Barry Fisher was the director of Amigo, with Iain as 'cleaning services manager'.
The Facebook page for Titan, which is now closed, has the URL destination 'AmigoClean'.
On September 1 of this year both resigned as directors of Titan, passing 50 shares each to a Ms Vicky Guy.
Ian Fisher, Barry Stevenson and Vicky Guy did not respond to request for comment.
Claire Beaton, Susan Mitchell and Sarah Yorke, who worked to expose the businesses: "To be informed of Barry's latest activity, by way of a tip off to the Stevenson's Support group was, in our view, an inevitability.
"Since the tip-off, we have worked tirelessly to alert individuals, community groups and businesses potentially affected by the activities of both Barry & Iain Fisher.
"Barry Stevenson, as he was known back in 2019, operated in the unregulated pre-paid funeral plan industry. Now, in 2024, Barry has chosen aesthetics, an industry with growing safety concerns and increasing pressure to regulate, as his latest area of operation.
"Another company, Titan Cleaning & Facilities Management Ltd, owned and operated by the Fishers, has had access to many sensitive environments in healthcare, childcare, dentistry, homelessness, addiction, and veterinary services.
"The publicity this article affords is crucial, especially considering that Home Helps UK, operating from 17A Main Street in Balerno, remains a cause for concern.
"Organisations such as Companies House, NMC, SSSC, NHS, SMASG, Care Inspectorate, Health Improvement Scotland, and others play a vital role in investigating and sanctioning individuals like the Fishers. Their actions undoubtedly contribute to a safer society.
"We are grateful to the press for their role in raising public awareness of Barry and Iain Fisher, who continue to target the most vulnerable members of our society. As individuals, we should not underestimate our own ability to protect others. Further pressure must be applied to the Scottish Government to ensure that regulation of the aesthetics industry is implemented promptly.
"We would like to thank the courageous individual who alerted the Stevenson's Support Group. The financial, emotional, and physical harm you have undoubtedly prevented is significant. To the local businesses and community members who assisted in spreading the story, thank you. Finally, deep gratitude to our families for their support and help over recent weeks."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here