Director of Worcester storage firm banned after cashing in from sale of containers

THE director of a Worcester-based storage company which went into liquidation owing £178,626 to creditors has been disqualified from acting as a director for five years for selling assets that did not belong to the company and paying some creditors to the detriment of others.

Graham Michael Bradbury’s disqualification follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Bradbury was the director of Guardian Self Storage, which traded out of premises on the Sheriff Street Industrial Estate in Worcester from April 2006 until the company went into liquidation in October 2012.

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills accepted a five year undertaking from Bradbury which bans him from acting as a company director or from managing or in any way controlling a limited company from 13 May 2014 until 2019.

The investigation showed that bailiffs working to recover rent arrears on behalf of the company’s landlord had seized assets on Guardian’s premises.

Following this, Bradbury did not dispute selling 29 containers owned by Guardian for £29,000 in cash in October 2012.

This money was not used to pay the general body of creditors which included the landlord, the bank and HMRC.

Instead, Bradbury stated the money was used to pay wages to sub-contracted labourers and the fees of a solicitor, an accountant and the prospective liquidator.

He also said it was used to repay a loan made by an employee and for redundancy payments.

This was at a time when the company was insolvent and after Bradbury had made contact with an insolvency practitioner.

Commenting on Bradbury’s disqualification Sue MacLeod, chief investigator of insolvent investigations, Midlands & West at the Insolvency Service, said: “The law is very clear: all creditors of an insolvent company should be treated fairly so that each obtains a share of any pay-out, rather than creditors being cherry-picked.

“Mr Bradbury had already been in contact with an insolvency practitioner before he sold company assets, yet used that revenue in such a way that some creditors received nothing at all while others were paid in full.

“The consequence is that he is now disqualified and cannot continue in business, other than at his own risk.”