THE director of a bakery company based near Lyme Regis has been disqualified after an investigation.

Clive John Cobb, aged 70, of Dorset, is the second director of Our Bakery Number Two Ltd to be disqualified following an Insolvency Service Investigation.

Alexander Charles Eugene Qaun, aged 45, of Exeter, was disqualified for four years in 2016.

Cobb has been disqualified from acting as a director for five years.

Our Bakery Number Two Ltd traded as the Royal William Bakery, a bakery and restaurant at the Royal William Yard in Plymouth. Its registered office was at Flat 1, Rousden Village Bakery, Rousden, Lyme Regis.

The investigation found that Cobb and Quan were responsible for the company failing to pay VAT, PAYE and NIC from at least May 2013. 
This led to an arrears of £130,361 with the total amount owed in unpaid tax when the company went into liquidation in October 2015 coming to £142,666.

On October 17 this year the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted a disqualification undertaking from Cobb, effective from November 7.This follows an undertaking from Quan which was accepted on November 15 last year.

Commenting on the disqualification, Sue MacLeod, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “These actions have resulted in honest taxpayers losing out. 

“If you run a business in a way that is unfairly detrimental to any of its creditors, including tax authorities, the Insolvency Service will investigate you, and you may find yourself disqualified from acting as a director.”

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