Friday 09:37
A director of a number of Certified Bailiffs that failed with total debts estimated at around £1.4 million has given an Undertaking not to hold directorships or take any part in company management for six years.
The Undertaking by Paul Pennicott of Newport Road, Stafford, was given in respect of his conduct as a director of the following companies:
* Jefferies and Pennicott Limited carried out business from premises at 159 Brookwood Road, London SW18 5BD, 212 Durnsford Road, London SW19 8DR, and 166 Newport Road, Cardiff CF2 1DL and went into liquidation on 9 February 2000, with estimated debts of £372,000;
* Jefferies and Pennicott Group Plc carried out business from premises at 212 Durnsford Road, London SW19 8DR and went into liquidation on 9 February 2000, with estimated debts of £50,000;
* Jefferies and Pennicott (Northern) Limited carried out business from premises at Ashley House, Siemens Road, Stafford ST17 and went into liquidation on 9 February 2000, with estimated debts of £317,100;
* Jefferies and Pennicott (Eastern) Limited carried out business from premises at 36 St John's Street, Bedford MK42 0DH and went into liquidation on 9 February 2000, with estimated debts of £602,100;
* Jefferies and Pennicott (Southern) Limited carried out business from premises at 64/66 Ebrington Street, Plymouth PL4 9QA and went into liquidation on 9 February 2000, with estimated debts of £126,100.
Acceptance of the Undertaking on 2 October 2003 prevents Mr Pennicott from being a director of a company or, in any way, whether directly or indirectly, being concerned or taking part in the promotion, formation or management of a company for the above period.
The Insolvency Service, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry, has responsibility (under Section (6) of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986) for the investigation of the conduct of directors of failed companies and for the disqualification of those who are considered to be unfit to be involved in the management of companies in the future. Matters of unfit conduct, not disputed by Mr Pennicott, were that he: * abrogated his responsibilities as a director by failing to keep himself sufficiently informed as to the companies' financial position and their arrangements for handling clients' money; As a result he failed to prevent the Group, which traded as certified bailiffs on a national level, from improperly breaching contractual arrangements with clients and to breach fiduciary duties to those clients. These breaches were:
- failure to segregate monies collected on behalf of clients; - failure to remit monies collected to the clients on the agreed basis; - the misapplication of monies collected on behalf of clients to the benefit of parties other than clients including Aztec Car Rental Limited, a company owned by his fellow directors Mr Philip Pennicott and Mr Ian Jefferies;
* failed to prevent monies collected on behalf of clients being retained as involuntary finance for the insolvent trading of the Group. The breaches that he failed to prevent were to his own personal benefit as the retention of monies due to clients and the misapplication of monies allowed him to benefit financially from the continued remuneration and benefits.
Notes to editors
1.The Insolvency Service is an executive agency of the Department of Trade and Industry with responsibility for both the regulation of Insolvency Practitioners and for company directors' disqualifications.
2.Insolvency Practitioners are authorised to deal with the administration of a range of company insolvency procedures including administrations and administrative receivership and creditors' voluntary liquidation. Insolvency Practitioners are required to report to the Insolvency Service on the conduct of company directors' work in each of these proceedings with a view to identifying behaviour that might make these directors unfit to be involved in company management in the future.
3.The Insolvency Service considers the voluntary practitioners' reports and, where appropriate, will investigate the conduct of directors with a view to taking disqualification proceedings on behalf of the Secretary of State.
4.A court can disqualify directors from directorships and involvement in the management of companies for between two and 15 years for unfit conduct. If a director breaches a Disqualification Order they can be prosecuted and may be punished by a fine, a prison sentence of up to two years, or both, and may be made personally liable for the company debts.
5.Directors who accept that their conduct is unfit can give an Undertaking to the Secretary of State that they will not become involved as a director or in the management of a limited company for an agreed period of between two and 15 years. This avoids a court process, but the penalties for breach of an Undertaking are the same as for breach of a court order.
6.Companies House maintains a public register of disqualified directors that can be viewed at http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk. Addresses given are those correct at the time of the company failure, but may not now be current.
7.Members of the public who think that they know of any person who is acting in breach of a Disqualification Order or Undertaking should report that person's details to The Insolvency Service Disqualified Directors Hotline on 0845 601 3546 (24 hour message service). General enquires to The Insolvency Service should be addressed to the General Enquiries Help line on 020 7291 6895.
For further information about the Insolvency Service and disqualification see http://www.insolvency.gov.uk
Issued on behalf of the Insolvency Service by the Government News Network, London. For more information please contact Philip Sutcliffe on Tel: 020 7261 8787; Fax: 020 7928 8450; Email: Philip.Sutcliffe@gnn.gsi.gov.uk
Regional news releases for Government departments can be viewed at http://www.gnn.gov.uk
