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Jane Catherine Bernadette Goodfellow (56), from Yeovil, Somerset, has received a second ban lasting 12 years and at the same time Clare Louise Watts (51), also from Yeovil, was banned for 5 years for allowing Jane Goodfellow to run the café and acting as a stooge director.
The company at the centre of the Insolvency Service investigation was The Yeovil Wine Vaults Limited, which traded as a licensed restaurant in Yeovil known as the Wine Vaults.
Yeovil Wine Vaults as a company was incorporated in October 2013 with Clare Watts appointed the sole director. However, the restaurant entered into liquidation not even four years later in March 2017 after it could not pay its debts.
Liquidators appointed to wind up Yeovil Wine Vaults reported to the Insolvency Service concerns about the company and following further enquiries, investigators were able to establish that although Clare Watts was the registered director, Jane Goodfellow was the person running the show.
Jane Goodfellow, also known by various other names including James, Murphy and Goodchild, was the person dealing with regulators, the local authority, employees and suppliers.
However, she should not have been running the restaurant as Jane Goodfellow was already subject to an 11-year disqualification order handed down by the courts in March 2006. This was in connection with her conduct as a director of Peaceflight Limited, a printing company.
Both Clare Watts and Jane Goodfellow worked together at Peaceflight Limited and by allowing Jane Goodfellow to run the restaurant, Clare Watts acted as a stooge director, complicit in her former colleague’s breach of a disqualification order.
Further investigations also established that both Jane Goodfellow and Clare Watts failed to ensure Yeovil Wine Vaults filed annual returns, while also being remiss in paying tax or filing tax returns throughout the company’s entire trading period.
On 22 February 2019, the Secretary of State accepted disqualification undertakings from both Jane Goodfellow and Clare Watts regarding their conduct as directors of Yeovil Wine Vaults, with their bans coming into effect from 15 March 2019.
Dave Elliott, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:
When Jane Goodfellow appeared in court more than 10 years ago, she would have been made fully aware by the judge that she was explicitly banned from acting in the management of a company. But Jane Goodfellow thought she could get round her disqualification when she got her former colleague to act as a stooge director, leaving her to run the restaurant as she pleased.
However, as the restaurant collapsed their misdemeanours came to light, resulting in significant bans for the both of them. This result should make it very clear to disqualified directors who ignore their bans and continue to act as directors, as well as those who assist them, that they will be vigorously pursued by the Insolvency Service.
Jane Catherine Bernadette Goodfellow (aka James, aka Murphy, aka Goodchild) is of Somerset and her date of birth is 07/03/1952.
Clare Louise Watts is of Somerset and her date of birth is 16/05/1967
The Yeovil Wine Vaults Limited (Company Reg no. 08752877).
A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:
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.
Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.
You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:
Changes have been made to the way providers submit an amendment to means and merits assessments in the Client and Cost Management System (CCMS).
The changes have been made in response to feedback from providers and should help you to save time.
CCMS will now allow you to:
Guidance on making amendments is available on the ‘managing live cases’ section of the CCMS training website.
Digital.Assist@justice.gov.uk – to contact our training team
CCMS training: managing live cases – to download training modules on amendments
Halifax Mannin Ltd, based in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales, and Birmingham’s Hey Design Services Ltd were wound-up in the public interest on 1 March 2019 at the High Court in Manchester before District Judge Bever. The Official Receiver has been appointed liquidator of the companies.
The two companies came to the attention of the Insolvency Service after complaints were received but following confidential enquiries, investigators were unable to determine the exact nature of the trading activities of either Halifax Mannin or Hey Design Services or where their business activities were being conducted from.
However, investigators established that Halifax Mannin and Hey Design Services both received payments from people persuaded to make investments in works of art by renowned painters.
In little more than a year between October 2017 and October 2018, Halifax Mannin received close to £250,000, while Hey Design Services secured just over £1.1 million in funds.
The vast majority of the £1.4 million received by the two companies was paid out of the companies’ bank accounts but investigators could not determine how the funds have been spent as the directors have failed to co-operate with enquiries.
Investigators were also able to establish that the art investment scheme that the companies were involved with appears to have been operated by a separate business in Spain, Asset Consulting Services, which had been subject to a previous public warning from the Financial Conduct Authority.
The courts wound-up the two companies on the grounds they traded with a lack of commercial probity, having been incorporated or used as vehicles for fraud, with their sole purpose being to receive monies from investors who were misled or bullied into making an investment.
Furthermore, the companies and their directors failed to cooperate with the investigation and the companies operated with a lack of transparency.
David Hope, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:
Despite accepting more than a million pounds from members of the public, including elderly and vulnerable people, there is no evidence to indicate that the investment had any value or was likely to generate any return for the investors.
Thankfully the courts have a put a stop to these companies, preventing anyone else from coming to harm, and I would encourage anyone approached by, or thinking about making, an investment with, Asset Consulting Services to read the warning issued by the FCA and to take independent financial advice before making any investment decision.
All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 2 Floor, 3 Piccadilly Place, London Road, Manchester, M1 3BN. Email: piu.north@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.
Halifax Mannin Ltd – company registration number 10894972 – was incorporated on 2 August 2017. The company’s registered office is at The Old Police House, Trawsfynydd, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales LL41 4RW.
Hey Design Services Ltd – company registration number 09851082 – was incorporated on 2 November 2015. The company’s registered office is at 22 Ellerton Road, Birmingham B44 0QD.
The petitions were presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 12 December 2018.
Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Further information about live company investigations is available here.
Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available here.
You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:
The news follows the announcement that Homes England is trialling space with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and supports its commitment to collaborate with regional partners, ensuring its experts can work hand-in-hand with local specialists.
Sir Edward Lister, Chairman of Homes England, said:
“Homes England is committed to a place based approach, working with local experts to accelerate the delivery of homes across England. The co-location that we are now trialling in Coventry is a way of cementing that collaborative approach as teams work side by side.”
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for jobs and regeneration at Coventry City Council, said:
“The announcement that Homes England is establishing a presence in Coventry, at Friargate which is located right next to the fastest growing railway station outside London, offers a strong statement of confidence in the city’s ongoing regeneration and transformation. We have already welcomed the Financial Ombudsman Service who are based at Friargate and now we are working closely with Homes England, sharing our local knowledge with its team.”
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, commented:
“We’re delighted to welcome Homes England to Coventry and we hope this will be the first step towards a new headquarters, with new jobs for people in Coventry and the wider West Midlands.”
ENDS.
For more information contact Kate Hall, Communications Officer at Homes England 0115 852 6900 or 07967 782252 kate.hall@homesengland.gov.uk