Pubco directors banned for 13 years over £1.4m debts

An investigation by the Insolvency Service found William Dene Lyall and Joseph Harthen, who ran pubs on temporary licences as Inn Take (UK) Ltd, “fell well short of that expected of a company director”.

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable, has banned Lyall, 62, from being a director for eight years while Harthen, 51, was disqualified for five years. Their period of disqualification runs from 31 January 2014 and 29 November 2013 respectively.

The investigation found that on Lyall’s direction, Inn Take had entered into an outsourcing arrangement in which £1.6m was due to cover utility bills and business rates. Lyall later transferred the business of Inn Take to a new company, leaving an outstanding debt of almost £1.4m to utility companies and local authorities.

Inadequate​

The investigation also found that Lyall caused the company to continue making payments under a supposed outsourcing agreement when he should have been aware that hundreds of thousands of pounds were not being paid over to utility companies and local authorities for outstanding bills.

Harthen was found to have failed to exercise any proper control over the company. Both Lyall and Harthen were also judged to have failed to maintain or deliver adequate accounting records leaving investigators unable to establish the purpose of £2.2m worth of payments.

Inn Take, which was based in Bingley, West Yorkshire, was compulsorily wound up on 1 December 2011.

Conduct​

Ken Beasley, Official Receiver of The Insolvency Service’s Public Interest Unit, said: “The conduct of Mr Lyall and Mr Harthen fell well below that expected of a company director.

“It is clear that Mr Harthen, despite being aware of his appointment as a company director, took no interest in the affairs of the company or of his responsibilities to creditors.”