Mark and Janet Styler have been disqualified from acting as directors for six years for withdrawing funds from Window & Conservatory Options Limited after they had been told the company was insolvent and could not afford to continue the level of payments to them.
The company, which began trading in March 2009, sold and installed double-glazing and conservatories to domestic customers throughout the Tameside, Peak District and Derbyshire areas.
An insolvency service investigation found that:
- In June 2011, Mr & Mrs Styler approved accounts which showed that the company was insolvent. At the time, accountants warned them about the risk of continuing to trade and that their level of drawings from the company exceeded the profits, as they owed the company £95,862
- The directors received draft accounts on 6 February 2012 for the period ending 30 September 2011, which showed the company was still insolvent. The accountants again warned the directors about their level of drawings of £133,448 for that year
- A few days later, on 10 February 2012, the directors instructed new accountants to re-do the 2011 accounts. The new accountants amended the accounts based on information provided by Mr & Mrs Styler. The revised accounts showed that the company remained insolvent. However, the amount that the directors owed to the company had disappeared
- From 11 February 2012 to 17 September 2013 the directors received further payments of £172,715.50 from the company
- The directors ignored the warnings and continued to withdraw funds from the company, and as a result the company could not make payments to its creditors. On 27 September 2013 the company was placed into Liquidation
Commenting on the disqualification, Cheryl Lambert, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Directors who abuse limited liability and use company funds to meet their personal expenses can expect to be investigated by the Insolvency Service and enforcement action taken to remove them from the market place. Mr & Mrs Styler repeatedly ignored warnings from professional advisors and used company funds as their own.
Taking action against Mr & Mrs Styler is a warning to directors of their responsibilities and requirements to act for the good of the company and its creditors.
