Billee Hopkinson: former customers of convicted Preston builder speak out following his guilty plea in court

Billee Hopkinson, previously of Ultra Restore, appeared at Preston Magistrates Court on January 16 faced with three unfair trading regulations charges.

The first two counts were for knowingly or recklessly engaging in a commercial practice which contravenes the requirements of professional diligence, whilst the third was for engaging in a commercial practice which is a misleading omission, and the 35-year-old indicted a guilty plea for all three.

Hopkinson, a father of three from Ingol, will appear at Preston Crown Court for a Sentence Hearing on March 17 2023.

Following his appearance at magistrates, the Post spoke to two of Hopkinson’s previous customers.

41-year-old staff nurse Katie Sowerby is the victim from the second charge, in which Hopkinson is accused of knowingly or recklessly engaging in a commercial practice which contravenes the requirements of professional diligence between September 6 2021 to November 30 2021.

The mum of three previously told the Post that she had given Hopkinson’s Ultra Restore £17,100 before the company went into liquidation. She had hired the firm for a loft conversion but found the work to be slow and of sub-par standard. Building control confirmed the work was not up to building standards but during the ensuing discussions between Hopkinson and Katie, Ultra Restore went bust.

When she last spoke to the Post in February 2022, Katie claimed her house was left flooded and without a roof, with little chance of renovation any time soon.

Following Hopkinson’s appearance at magistrates nearly a year later, Katie, from Ingol said: “He severely damaged my home and took money for materials that never arrived. I have spent thousands on rectifying the damage to make my home water and wind tight, money that I have had to borrow because Billee took the money I had saved for the loft conversion.

“The charges won't get me my money back or take away the pain he has caused my family and others but people will now see him for what we all found him out to be last year.”

Another of Billee’s old customers is 34-year-old plasterer, Tony Carey, who says, after handing over £6,200 ahead of the project, Ultra Restore pulled down large parts of his existing extension but never returned to finish the job, leaving his home like a building site.

Although Tony is not one of the victims from the charge sheet, he says Hopkinson's appearance in court was still a relief for him.

Tony told the Post: “I’m pleased to see Billee is being prosecuted, I think he should be forced to sell his house to repay the people he’s taken money from. Billee has no business being in the building trade.”

Last year Hopkinson told the Post he said had been unfairly criticised and was the victim of rising costs in the building trade, which meant he had to pass some extra costs to his customers after agreeing an original price.

Hopkinson will be sentenced in March.