Francesco Cortese, a real estate consultant owed £39,829, travelled from his home in Italy for the meeting on Castle Street.

He said: “I am owed commission for nine luxury apartments on Lake Como. Metcalf amended my contract of 2.5% commission to 1.5%, then negotiated his own commission and I didn’t get anything.

“I’m really annoyed, which is why I’ve come all this way.”

Accounts for TMOPS over the past three years show a loss of £7,569 at the end of 2005, £508,767 loss in 2006 and a £1m loss in 2007.

Metcalf was one of four shareholders and directors, and is the sole director after London-based Stuart Johnson resigned at the start of September.

Former shareholder and director David Jones, who was dismissed by Metcalf in January this year, had reached a compromise agreement with Metcalf for money owed, but remains among the list of creditors.

Metcalf has sent a number of letters to investors over the past six months. In the most recent of these, dated September 26, he wrote that the liquidation of TMOPS would affect all of his sister companies.

In a letter dated 10 days earlier, he also wrote that he was making arrangements to declare himself bankrupt.

In another letter, dated September 12, he said:“In common with many organisations in our industry, we are suffering the consequences of the current economic climate.

“Assumptions based on many years’ experience have proved to be invalid, and I can put it no more directly than to advise you that I have no prospect of paying the sum due to you either through the conclusion of the project(s) in which you have invested or through my personal guarantee.” He goes on to write that he is relying on profit generated by other companies to generate funds to repay investors, and has already reduced operating costs by several redundancies.

He writes that both TMOPS and Tailormade Elite (TE), have no realisable assets and that TE will cease trading immediately.

Metcalf also has an associated company, 7 Best Invest Ltd, and through this is a patron of the Prince’s Trust and Inner City Sailing Trust (ICST), donating 5% of its profits to each charity.

Metcalf set up ICST in April this year, as a unique scheme that gives young people from Merseyside access to Royal Yachting Association training courses.

ICST said the trust had a number of sponsors and would continue to operate as normal.

A spokesman for Merseyside Police confirmed their Criminal Enterprise Team was investigating and working with other agencies, following a number of complaints into Ken Metcalf and TMOPS.

laurasharpe