Directors disqualified for £35,000 of unfulfilled orders

A HUSBAND and wife team who ran a bridal wear and suit hire business in Warwickshire have been disqualified from being company directors after amassing £35,000 of unfulfilled orders.

Christopher and Carol Howarth, both 49, ran two shops, Crystals Bridal Centre and Christopher’s Suit Hire, in Nuneaton, after launching C&C Wedding Company in September 2005.

The pair has been disqualified from being directors for seven years each after 76 pre-paid orders worth over £35,000 were left unfulfilled.

The ruling, which follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service, prevents them from in any way managing or controlling limited companies and comes into effect on October 19.

C&C Wedding Company entered into a voluntary arrangement with its creditors in February 2009 but this had failed four months later.

However, the couple continued to take deposits and payments from wedding parties.

It eventually entered into liquidation in November 2009 with debts of more than £287,000, by which time it had taken payments of at least £35,976 on 76 unfulfilled orders, forcing some brides to pay again for dresses.

Claire Entwistle, director of company investigations north, said: “The undertakings signed by Christopher Howarth and Carol Howarth send a clear message to other company directors; if you run a business in a way that is detrimental to either its customers or its creditors you could be investigated by the Insolvency Service and as a result removed from the business environment.”