August 20th 2007

To whom it may concern

My name is Alastair Cook. I have recently noticed on the Web and also in a number of newspaper articles a statement from Oldham Trading Standards referring to Vance Miller's appearance on the BBC2 series, Notorious. In my view this is mentioned by Oldham Trading Standards in a manner and style designed to mislead the readers of these articles into believing that Notorious showed Vance Miller in a bad light, when it in fact shows quite the opposite.

To put you in the picture, I would like to explain that in 2002 I was commissioned by the BBC to make a documentary about the business practices of Vance Miller. After reading many newspaper articles on Vance Miller, which cited thousands upon thousands of complaints to Trading Standards, I was convinced that I was going to uncover a scam on a huge scale. But after filming over a period of many months and having unrestricted access to all areas of the business I was convinced that Vance Miller was not operating a scam.

Vance Miller is an ambitious and driven businessman who has built up an enormous and successful company that employs thousands of people worldwide. If he was a conman then he's certainly not a good one, after all why would he need 800 staff in Britain and 2000 staff in China and operate from what is the largest mill complex in the north of Britain. Conmen (and I have filmed a few during my career) do not invest so heavily into their business. A conman would simply operate his scam from a small office somewhere. Why would they need all these staff and such a huge manufacturing capacity?

The press headlines surrounding Vance make good copy for journalists; he’s labelled as a 'Rogue Trader' or 'A Conman' in every article. This label sticks and is passed from journalist to journalist but none of those writing the damning articles have ever met Vance or seen first hand his business. People always take as true what they read in the press but so often the papers print inaccuracies (often because they are just repeating what other papers have printed).

The series was called Notorious because the people in each of the films had notorious reputations. But that doesn’t mean those reputations are valid. As a film maker I sought to discover for myself whether Vance’s notorious reputation was accurate and I am convinced it is not. The film was titled 'The Kitchen Gangster', to attract viewers and as a tongue-in-cheek jibe at all the bad press.

Vance is an unorthodox businessman. He favours tracksuits to suits. He calls a spade a spade. He doesn’t suffer fools. But he is extremely hard working and very sharp. He has the qualities needed to build a successful business. What Vance Miller has achieved is truly remarkable, building from nothing what is today the fourth largest kitchen company in Britain.

I have since made another documentary that features Vance, called Brits Get Rich in China (broadcast on Channel 4 in May 2007). I spent many weeks on the road with Vance in China watching him doing business. His schedule is exhausting, his operation vast and his knowledge of China second to none. That is why his business is so big - not because he rips customers off but because he has cracked China long before any of his rivals.

So you must ask yourself, why is Vance being persecuted in the press? In whose interests is it that he is put out of business? These are questions yet to be answered. Maybe I will tackle them in my next documentary!

I would be happy to provide a copy of either the Notorious documentary - The Kitchen Gangster - or Brits Get Rich in China.

I hope this statement clears up any doubts you may have about Vance Miller. I thought that my documentaries would have done that, but it seems that newspapers are still churning out the same misleading and lazy articles.

Yours sincerely,

Alastair Cook

Director of 'Notorious' & 'Brits Get Rich in China'.