Carratu was set up in 1963 by Vincent Carratu as a corporate investigations company. Carratu has been referred to by the Sunday Times as the "world's most accomplished private investigator". As such it is the oldest privately owned corporate investigations company in the United Kingdom. The company is based in London. The company previously traded as Carratu International Plc until September 2010, when it changed its name to Carratu Ltd.
Corporate espionage investigations
The firm was secretly engaged by agents of
British Airways
British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport.
The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...
during their
dirty tricks campaign against Virgin Atlantic to attempt to track down the source of leaks. When a private investigator was arrested for stealing bin bags from journalist Roger Eglin, Vince Carratu admitted "Everybody does that".
Hughes v Carratu International
In 2006, the Information Commissioner found that a private investigator under Carratu's instructions, in turn instructed by law firm
Mishcon de Reya, had illegally obtained the bank account information of David Hughes. Hughes brought a legal action for breach of confidence and breach of the
Data Protection Act 1998
The Data Protection Act 1998 (c. 29) (DPA) was an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom designed to protect personal data stored on computers or in an organised paper filing system. It enacted provisions from the European Union (EU) Data Pr ...
, and in ''Hughes v Carratu International plc''
006
Alec Trevelyan is a fictional character who is the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye,'' portrayed by actor Sean Bean. Bean's likeness was also used as the model for Alec Trevelyan in the 1997 video game '' GoldenEye 007' ...
EWHC 1791 (QB) the court ordered full disclosure of information about the case to Hughes; this case has become important in its requirement to disclose information regardless of
legal professional privilege
In common law jurisdictions and some civil law jurisdictions, legal professional privilege protects all communications between a professional legal adviser (a solicitor, barrister or attorney) and his or her clients from being disclosed without ...
, as well as serving as a cautionary tale for law firms hiring private investigators.
[Jonathan Reuvid, ''Managing Business Risk: A Practical Guide to Protecting Your Business'', Kogan Page, 2010, p 115.]
References
External links
Official website
Privately held companies of the United Kingdom
Business services companies established in 1963
Private intelligence agencies
1963 establishments in England