Thomas James Brown, director of JKS Brickwork Contractors (S.E.) Limited in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, failed to keep proper accounts and so prevented the recovery of £1m of creditors’ money when the company went under.
The disqualification follows an investigation by Company Investigations (South), part of the Insolvency Service.
Mr Brown, 38, of Wapping, east London, has given an undertaking not to act as a director of a limited company for eight years with effect from 17 December 2012.
JKS Brickwork, a construction and civil engineering company, went into liquidation on 17 November 2010 owing £1,053,147 to its creditors.
The last annual accounts filed by the company were for the year to 30 November 2009. The company traded for 11 months beyond this date but Mr Brown failed to provide any records covering the period from December 2009 to the time it went into liquidation.
The lack of records meant that liquidators were not able to verify JKS Brickwork’s expenses during this time, which Mr Brown claimed to be £8,660,196. Nor could they verify the amount owed to the company by its clients, which had been valued as £1,630,170 in the previous year.
The liquidators have therefore been unable to track down the money owed to JKS Brickwork’s creditors and pay these debts.
Mark Bruce, a chief examiner at Company Investigations (South) in London, said: “The maintenance of a company’s financial records is a crucial responsibility for a director, especially when that company is experiencing financial difficulties. This investigation uncovered very significant assets and expenses that could not be explained adequately to the liquidator, which prevented him from doing his job properly for the creditors. Bad book-keeping causes clear harm to creditors, damages business confidence and threatens economic growth.
“Directors who do not take their responsibilities seriously when dealing with records of a company must understand that they face a significant ban as the Insolvency Service are hot on their heels.”
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