A talented County Durham student has been recognised for her academic success and voluntary work with a prize given to commemorate a politician who championed education in the North East.

Courteney Ayre, a pupil at Apollo Studio Academy, Peterlee, was announced as the fifth winner of the annual Lord Glenamara Memorial Prize, given in memory of former Deputy Prime Minister and North-East MP Ted Short.

Education Secretary Justine Greening presented Courteney with the award at a reception held at Imperial College London on Thursday 9 February, and confirmed that the year 12 student will now undertake a 2-day work experience programme at the Department for Education’s offices in London.

After hearing that she had been selected as the stand-out candidate from entrants in years 11 and 12 across the North East, aspiring primary school teacher Courteney paid tribute to the work of local organisations such as the Durham-based Bridge Young Carers project.

Courteney impressed judges with her academic and extra-curricular achievements, which include:

• academic excellence in gaining 11 GCSEs at A and B grade
• involvement in induction and mentoring of new students by assisting Apollo staff and attending promotional events to share positive opportunities and experiences
• supporting students and teachers by delivering, to a high standard, lessons in a peer-to-peer teaching programme
• being involved with the Bridge Young Carers project to provide support for young carers in the north-east of England
• using her experience to work with local charity Northern Rights to help set up a website offering support for people with health problems and disabilities.

Education Secretary Justine Greening said:

There were so many excellent entrants put forward for this year’s prize and they should all be celebrated. However, having read Courteney’s nomination, it is clear why she stood out – Courteney should be proud of her many achievements.

Getting good grades is vital and it is equally important that pupils leave school with the skills and confidence needed to get on in life. Courteney has demonstrated these qualities in abundance and used them to have a hugely positive impact on her school and the local community. I’m sure she will be a fantastic teacher and I wish her all the best for the future

Reacting to her award, Courteney said:

I feel highly honoured to be nominated for, and subsequently chosen, to receive this outstanding award. If it wasn’t for the tireless effort put in by my teachers, family and friends I would still be shy, and therefore unable to even be considered for an award like this.

I feel very grateful that I was introduced to The Bridge Young Carers Project and would like to use this award to highlight how important services like these are to young people that are living in a caring role. It relieves them of a lot of extra stress, thus allowing them to pursue their education to a higher and more beneficial standard.

I hope to continue supporting the links between education and supportive groups once I become an educator myself.

The runners-up, listed in alphabetical order, are:

• Lily Clarke, Heaton Manor School
• Grace Copeland, St Anthony’s Girls’ Catholic Academy
• Thomas James, Belmont Community School
• Martha Laundy-Blair, Carmel College
• Jack McDermott, Ian Ramsey CoE Academy
• Annalise Murray, Harton Technology College
• Aaron Rowell, St Thomas More RC Academy
• Georgia Topping, Castle View Enterprise Academy
• Niamh Waters, St Thomas More RC Sixth Form

About the Lord Glenamara Prize

The prize is open to school pupils in years 11 and 12 across the North East of England who have shown:

• strong academic performance across a range of subjects
• a civic contribution, particularly volunteering personal time for activities such as:
  • mentoring younger pupils
  • helping with extracurricular events
  • working with a youth group or a charity outside school hours
• an interest in government, education, history or public service

About Lord Glenamara

Lord Glenamara – Ted Short – qualified as a teacher in Durham before becoming MP for Newcastle central in 1951 and the first Chancellor of Northumbria in 1992.

In 1968 he was appointed Education Secretary in Harold Wilson’s government, a post he continued to shadow in opposition.

The Lord Glenamara memorial prize was established to reward academic performance, citizenship and an interest in history, politics, or public service from young people in the North East.

Mohammad Shajahan has given an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, which prevents him from becoming directly or indirectly involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company for seven years from 20 December 2016.

Mr Shajahan was the director of a restaurant company, Rose Garden (UK) Limited (Rose), trading under the name Alresford Indian & Bangladeshi Restaurant. On 9 March 2016 Home Office Immigration Enforcement Officers established that Rose was employing five workers who were not eligible to work in the UK.

Rose went into liquidation on 25 April 2016 owing £223,547 to creditors, of which £100,000 was the fine imposed by the Home Office Immigration and Enforcement for employing the five illegal workers.

The Insolvency Service’s investigation concluded that Mr Shajahan failed to ensure that Rose complied with its statutory obligations under immigration legislation to ensure that relevant immigration checks were completed and copy documents retained, resulting in the employment of the five illegal workers.

Commenting on the disqualification, Robert Clarke, Chief Investigator at The Insolvency Service, said:

Illegal workers are not protected under employment law, and as well as cheating legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities these employers defraud the tax payer and undercut honest competitors.

The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, makes employers responsible for preventing illegal workers in the UK. To comply with the law, a company must check and be able to prove documents have been checked prior to recruitment that show a person is entitled to work.

The public has a right to expect that those who break the law will face the consequences and this should serve as a warning to other directors tempted to take on illegal staff.

Notes to editors

Rose Garden (UK) Limited (CRO No.08221662) was incorporated on 20 September 2012. Rose traded from 21 Broad Street, Alresford, Hampshire, SO24 9AR and its registered office was at the same address.

Mohammad Shajahan (date of birth 03 March 1966) was a formally appointed director between 20 September 2012 and liquidation.

Rose went into Liquidation on 25 April 2016. On 29 November 2016 the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Mr Shajahan effective from 20 December 2016, for seven years.

Following a visit from Home Office Immigration Officers in January 2016, a breach was discovered, Rose Garden (UK) Limited was issued with a penalty notice in the sum of £100,000, which remained outstanding at the date of liquidation.

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

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Both men have given undertakings to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, which prevents them from becoming directly or indirectly involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company for six years.

Mr Islam and Mr Monaf were the directors of M & Y Enterprises Ltd, a company trading as a restaurant, and on 27 January 2015 Home Office Immigration Enforcement Officers discovered that they were employing two workers who were not eligible to work in the UK, an offence under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

The company went into liquidation on 29 February 2016 owing £76,853 to creditors, of which £30,000 was the outstanding penalty imposed by the Home Office Immigration and Enforcement for employing the illegal workers.

Commenting on the disqualification, Martin Gitner, Deputy Head of Investigations with the Insolvency Service said:

Illegal workers are not protected under employment law, and as well as cheating legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities these employers defraud the tax payer and undercut honest competitors.

The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, makes employers responsible for preventing illegal workers in the UK. To comply with the law, a company must check and be able to prove documents have been checked prior to recruitment that show a person is entitled to work.

The public has a right to expect that those who break the law will face the consequences and this should serve as a warning to other directors tempted to take on illegal staff.

Notes to editors

Mr Abu Muhammod Yusuf Islam resides in Ilford. and his date of birth is 23 December 1967.

Mr Mohammod Abdul Monaf resides in Twickenham and his date of birth is 24 September 1958.

M & Y Enterprises Limited (CRO 04611913) was incorporated on 9 December 2002. The company traded as Deea Restaurant from 145-147 Richmond Road, Kingston.

Mr Islam was a director from 12 December 2002 to 29 April 2015 and Mr Monaf was a director from 12 December 2002 to liquidation. The Company went into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation on 29 February 2016 with an estimated deficiency of £70,353.

On 03 January 2017, the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Mr Islam, effective from 24 January 2017, for a period of 6 years.

On 5 January 2017, the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Mr Monaf, effective from 26 January 2017, for 6 years.

The matters of unfitness, which Mr Islam and Mr Monaf did not dispute in the Disqualification Undertakings, were that:

I failed to ensure that M & Y Enterprises Limited (M&Y) complied with its obligations as an employer under The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 in that M&Y employed two illegal workers and following a visit to M&Y’s trading premises by Home Office Immigration Enforcement on 27 January 2015, was fined £30,000. M&Y failed to pay the penalty in full and the sum of £30,000 remained outstanding at the date of liquidation.

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

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on: