Press release: Undercooked records lead to ban for kitchen installation director

Penny Lane Kitchens Limited (PLK) installed kitchens and bedrooms and went into liquidation on 25 January 2016, owing £237,689 to creditors, including £138,082 in respect of unpaid tax.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted a seven year disqualification undertaking from Mr Lane, which bars him from acting as a company director or from managing, or in any way controlling, a limited company from 1 November 2017 until 2024.

An investigation by the Insolvency Service found Mr Lane had failed to carry out his fiduciary duties as director of PLK having caused payments due to the company to be paid directly into his personal bank account without being recorded within PLK’s trading records.

Upon discovery of this fact, HM Revenue and Customs had determined that a further £67,405 was due in respect of undeclared Corporation Tax liabilities and that further penalties, interest, and charges totalling £138,646 were also due.

The Insolvency Service’s investigation further found Mr Lane had failed in his duty as a director to maintain, preserve or alternatively, deliver-up adequate accounting records. As a result, from 1 December 2014 onward, it was not possible to ascertain whether all of the money received, and paid out, by PLK had been accounted for. It was further not possible to establish whether the company had correctly accounted for its tax liabilities or whether there was further money due from Mr Lane in respect of his directors loan account.

Sue MacLeod, Chief Investigator of Insolvent Investigations Midlands and West at the Insolvency Service, said:

In investigating insolvent companies, the Insolvency Service always looks very closely at individuals who demonstrate a disregard for creditors and appropriate action is taken where wrongdoing is uncovered.

Directors have a duty to ensure that their companies maintain proper accounting records, and, following insolvency, deliver them to the office-holder in the interests of fairness and transparency. Without a full account of transactions it is impossible to determine whether a director has discharged his duties properly, or is using a lack of documentation as a cloak for impropriety.

Notes to editors

Colin Terry Lane’s date of birth is 6 September 1959 and he resides in Liverpool.

Penny Lane Kitchens Limited (company registration number 06431280) was incorporated on 19 November 2007 and traded from 374 – 376 Smithdown Road, Liverpool L15 5AN.

Colin Terry Lane was the sole director from 9 November 2007 to 25 January 2016 (the date of creditors voluntary liquidation).

Mr Lane’s seven year disqualification undertaking was signed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 11 October 2017 to be effective from 1 November 2017.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to:
Insolvent Investigations, Midlands and West, 4th Floor, Cannon House, 18 Priory Queensway, Birmingham B4 6FD. Tel: 0121 698 4000 Email: Adminteam.Midlands&west@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

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