OREANDA-NEWS. December 24, 2015. Mr Melvin was the sole director of A&P Melvin Plant Hire Limited from incorporation – 6 February 2008 - until the Company ceased trading, when it went into Liquidation, with an estimated deficiency of £322,667.

The failure to ensure that adequate books and records of the company were maintained, preserved and/or delivered up to the Liquidator, means it has not been possible to ascertain the ownership and whereabouts of various assets of the company, including at least 36 vehicles which had been identified as having been insured in the name of the company as at 1 November 2012.

It has also not been possible to ascertain the purpose of numerous transactions made from the company’s bank account between 15 February 2013 and 22 August 2013.

Mr Melvin gave an undertaking to the Insolvency Service not to manage or control a company Mr Melvin’s disqualification is due to commence on 9 December 2015.

Commenting on the disqualification, Robert Clarke, Head of Company Investigations at the Insolvency Service, said:

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. Mr Melvin has paid the price for failing to do that, as he cannot now carry on in business other than at his own risk.

Notes to editors

Mr Melvin’s date of birth is 24 December 1950 and he resides in Liverpool.

A&P Melvin Plant Hire Limited (CRO No. 06495388) was incorporated on 06 February 2008 and its registered office was 34 Irby Road, Wirral, CH61 6XE.

Mr Melvin was the sole director of A&P Melvin Plant Hire Limited from incorporation until the Company ceased trading. The Company went into Liquidation on 12 December 2013 with an estimated deficiency of £322,667.

On 18 November 2015, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Patrick Melvin, effective from 09 December 2015, for a period of 7 years.

The matters of unfitness that Mr Melvin did not dispute in the disqualification undertaking were that: I failed to ensure that adequate books and records were prepared, maintained and/or delivered up to the Liquidator in respect of A&P Melvin Plant Hire Ltd for the period after 28 February 2012.

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

In addition that person cannot act as an insolvency practitioner and there are many other restrictions are placed on disqualified directors by other regulations.

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Further information on director disqualifications and restrictions is available.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, 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.