Nine-year ban for prolific director in insolvency system abuse scheme

The Insolvency Service has banned a 57-year-old man as a director for nine years after he took part in a scheme to undermine the insolvency system.

Atherton Corporate paid Neville Taylor £266,914 to replace the directors of 12 companies which had ceased trading but had not entered liquidation.

Taylor, who is listed as a director of more than 400 companies, is alleged to have made no attempt to verify details of the companies’ affairs, breaching his duties as a director.

The companies had combined assets of more than £8.2m according to their final filed accounts. By the time the companies entered liquidation with Taylor at the helm, their estimated assets stood at only £676k, a decrease of more than £7.6m.

Taylor’s disqualification means he will have to step down as director of at least 196 companies from his correspondence address of Bridge Street, in the town of Kington in Herefordshire.

He will also no longer be able to act as director of more than 250 companies with correspondence addresses in Telford, Wakefield and Dunfermline.

Dave Magrath, director of investigation and enforcement services at the Insolvency Service said:  “Neville Taylor hampered efforts by liquidators to identify assets, caused a widespread loss to creditors and breached his duties as a director to act in the best interest of the companies and creditors.

“He also accepted that his conduct was part of a scheme designed to subvert and undermine insolvency legislation.

“Taylor made inadequate attempts to identify and locate millions of pounds of assets, to obtain company records, or to make himself aware of the companies’ trading.

“At the same time, he was paid by Atherton Corporate (UK) Ltd to enable this scheme.

“By disqualifying Taylor, we are making it clear that we will not tolerate those who avoid their legal duties as directors or seek to enable phoenixism. “

Taylor was disqualified for his conduct as director of the following 12 companies:
Abode D&B
Bryanston Logistics
Kiln Garden
M&G Olympic Products
Necto Build
Prestek Services
Rohani
S Consult
Stoke Park Developments
Swagger Home Furnishings
Tier One IT
Woden Park

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Taylor, and his ban started on Friday 3 January.

Atherton Corporate was liquidated in the public interest in August 2024 along with a connected company, Atherton Corporate Rescue.

Five associated companies, three of which listed Taylor as a director, were also shut down after they supported the scheme by buying the distressed companies and appointing new directors.

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