Manchester Confidential boss Garner banned and fined

MARK Garner, the flamboyant businessman behind the Manchester Confidential what’s on website, has been handed a 12-year director ban for running a company while an undischarged bankrupt.

Mr Garner, who writes restaurant reviews under the nickname Gordo, admitted the criminal offence at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on September 25.

The court banned him for four years and imposed a £3,000 fine. The action followed an investigation by the Insolvency Service which has led to Mr Garner accepting a 12-year ban. The two restrictions will run concurrently.

Following a petition from HM Revenue & Customs, Mr Garner was made bankrupt in July 2009 but continued to act as a director of Manchester Confidential’s parent company Planet Confidential, despite being banned from doing so for a year under bankruptcy rules.

The Insolvency Service said he also failed to provide information “which was reasonably required” by the company’s liquidator when it failed in 2011. In addition, he failed to ensure that Planet submitted returns and paid its taxes between January 2009 and February 2011, resulting in a liability of £341,299.

After Planet Confidential failed, Manchester Confidential continued to operate under another vehicle called Cpub Ltd which went into liquidation in April 2012. The site then continued under How-Do Ltd following its merger with the media news website but this company went into voluntary liquidation in June.

Manchester Confidential is now understood to operate through a company called Atruva which lists Mr Garner’s daughter, Georgina Hague, as its sole director. The Insolvency Service said Mr Garner had previously been made bankrupt in 1998, following a petition from American Express, and 2002, after action by the Inland Revenue.

Rob Clarke, head of insolvent investigations North at the Insolvency Service, said: “Company directors should be under no illusion that it is a criminal offence to act as a company director whilst an undischarged bankrupt, and Mr Garner now has the criminal record to show for it.

“Directors who breach their bankruptcy restrictions should be in no doubt that the Insolvency Service will investigate and the Department for Business will prosecute those who choose to ignore this warning.”

Mr Garner could not be reached for comment.