The disqualification from 13 March 2017 prevents Mr Ahmed from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company until March 2022.

Mr Ahmed’s disqualification follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service which found he had failed to ensure relevant immigration checks were completed and documents retained, resulting in the employment of an illegal worker and which resulted in a penalty notice of £30,000 being issued by the Home Office.

Aldona O’Hara, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service said:

The Insolvency Service rigorously pursues directors who fail to pay fines imposed by the government for breaking employment and immigration laws. We have worked closely in this case with our colleagues at the Home Office to achieve this disqualification.

The director sought an unfair advantage over his competitors by employing an individual who did not have the right to work in the UK in breach of his duties as a director.

The public has a right to expect that those who break the law will face the consequences. Running a limited company, means you have statutory obligations as well as protections. If you fail to comply with your obligations then the Insolvency Service will investigate you.

Notes to editors

Unique Flavours Limited (Company Registration No. 08348016) was incorporated on 4 January 2013 and traded from 121 Stoke Road, Gosport, Portsmouth P012 ILR.

Mohammed Zahed Ahmed (date of birth 24 April 1985) was the sole registered director from 4 January 2013, the date of incorporation, until liquidation.

The company went into liquidation on 13 May 2016. On 20 February 2017, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Mr Ahmed, effective from 13 March 2017, for a period of five years.

The matters of unfit conduct being that: Mohammed Zahed Ahmed failed to ensure that Unique Flavours Limited complied with its obligations in accordance with The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 and employed illegal workers.

This led to a penalty of £30,000, which materially contributed to the insolvency of Unique Flavours Limited in that:

• Mohammed Zahed Ahmed was sole appointed director of Unique from 4 January 2013, the date of incorporation, until the date of liquidation
• on 9 October 2015 Home Office Immigration Enforcement (HOIE) officers visited the company’s trading premises and the company was found to be employing two illegal workers
• on 24 November, 2015 HOIE issued a Notification of Liability for a Civil Penalty to Unique in respect of a suspected breach of section 15 of the Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, in the sum of £30,000 in respect of the company’s employment of two illegal workers, payment of which was due on or before 24 December 2015
• as the sole registered director of Unique, Md Zahed Ahmed was responsible for ensuring that the company complied with all relevant legislation, including legislation relating to the employment of persons eligible to work.
• no payments were made against the civil penalty and this sum remained outstanding at 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.

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

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Natalie Rimondi, director of Full Circle Facilities Management Limited, has been disqualified from acting as a company director for 6 years after transferring company funds of £103,600 to an associated company when she was aware the company was insolvent.

On 1 August 2014, a County Court Judgement was made against the company, and on the same day HM Revenue & Customs wrote to warn the company of potential winding-up proceedings.

Full Circle operated two bank accounts. On 4 August 2014 Natalie Rimondi authorised payments from each of these accounts, for £94,400 and £9,200, to an associated company. Following these payments there was less than £50 left in each of the accounts.

Three days later, on 7 August 2014, the company formally appointed a liquidator. In taking this action, Natalie Rimondi deprived Full Circle’s creditors of funds that should have been available for the Liquidator to distribute.

Full Circle entered liquidation on 3 September 2014 owing £236,871 to creditors.

Commenting on the disqualification, Sue Macleod, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

By 4 August 2014, Natalie Rimondi was aware that insolvency proceedings were inevitable. In transferring the majority of the company’s funds to an associated company she deliberately put these monies out of the reach of creditors.

Her disqualification will prevent a repeat occurrence of this and act as a deterrent to any other directors who are thinking of putting their own interests before that of their company’s creditors.

Notes to editors

Full Circle Facilities Management Limited was incorporated on 22 March 2013 and traded from Full Circle House, Lakeside, Llantarnam Business Park, Cwmbran, South Wales NP44 3XS.

Natalie Rimondi was appointed as a director from 15 April 2014 to 3 September 2014, the date of liquidation.

Natalie Rimondi is of Newport and her date of birth is January 1984.

On 28 February 2017 Deputy District Judge T D C Jowett sitting at the County Court at Cardiff ordered that Natalie Rimondi should be disqualified from acting as a director for 6 years from 15 March 2017.

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

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:

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) CEO/Chief Constable appointment usually runs for a five year term and Mike’s contract was due to finish in September 2017; however, due to the ongoing Infrastructure Policing programme and several other large projects that are close to fruition, his contract has now been extended until September 2019.

The Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA) Senior Appointments Committee had recommended to the Authority that the CEO be offered a continuation of contract for a further two years. The recommendation was endorsed by the Authority and approved by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Minister, Jesse Norman, MP.

Vic Emery, CNPA Chairman, said: “I am very pleased that Mike has agreed to be the CNC’s CEO/Chief Constable for these extra two years and look forward to continuing to work with him. I am sure my colleagues are as pleased about the extension as I am.”

Chief Constable Mike Griffiths said: “The CNC has risen to every challenge it has had given to it, growing in size, capability and operational credibility. It has been a great privilege to be part of that success and I am delighted to have two more years at the CNC as we look to consolidate our gains and plan for the future.”

Mike joined the CNC as Chief Constable in October 2012 after a career in the army spanning more than 30 years. As CEO/Chief Constable, he is responsible for the operational performance of the CNC and for improving, developing and maintaining effective strategic partnerships with the CNPA, site license companies, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (Civil Nuclear Security), Home Office and Police Scotland forces and the Ministry of Defence Police. He is also the Accounting Officer for the Civil Nuclear Police Authority and the CNC, ensuring demonstrable financial efficiency and effectiveness.

Mr Khan was the director of Colne Valley Restaurant Limited, which traded as Colne Valley Indian Restaurant in Earls Colne, Colchester.

He has been disqualified from acting as a company director for 8 years after an investigation by the Insolvency Service found he had employed an illegal worker, understated profits for tax purposes, and failed in his duty to ensure the company either maintained or preserved adequate accounting records.

Mr Khan’s disqualification from 11 April 2017 means that he cannot promote, manage or be a director of a limited company until 2025.

Prior to the cessation of its trading in February 2014, officers from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had visited the premises and discovered that some of the restaurant takings were excluded from its takings records. Further investigations undertaken by HMRC also found that some of the restaurant’s sales had been underpriced, while some ingredients had been overpriced, leading to understatements of profits for Corporation Tax purposes.

Officers from Home Office Immigration Enforcement (HOIE) also visited the restaurant premises on 4 October 2013 when the company was found to be employing an illegal worker. Mr Khan was as a result served with a Notification of Liability for a Civil Penalty of £5,000. The fine was not paid and Mr Khan took steps to place the company into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation, which took place on 19 May 2015.

Robert Clarke, Head of Insolvent Investigations North at the Insolvency Service, said:

The Insolvency Service rigorously pursues directors who fail to deal properly with a company’s taxation affairs and to pay fines imposed for breaking employment and immigration laws. We have worked closely in this case with our colleagues at HM Revenue & Customs and the Home Office to achieve this disqualification.

The director sought unfair advantages over his competitors by failing to ensure that profits were properly recorded and by employing individuals who did not have the right to work in the UK, in breach of his duties as a director.

The public has a right to expect that those who break the law will face the consequences. Running a limited company means you have statutory protections as well as obligations.

If you fail to comply with your obligations, then the Insolvency Service will investigate you.

Notes to editors

Colne Valley Restaurant Limited (CRO No. 06527924) was incorporated in 2008. The company’s trading address was 110 High Street, Earls Colne, Colchester, Essex, CO6 2QX.

Colne Valley Restaurant Limited entered liquidation on 19 May 2015 with no assets and liabilities of £38,514. Moulana Mohammed Abdul Goffar Khan is from Halstead and his date of birth is June 1973.

The disqualification undertaking was accepted by the Secretary of State on 21 March 2017 and will come into force on 11 April 2017.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

1. act as a director of a company
2. take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
3. 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.

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:

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Very Reverend Peter Jonathan Wilcox, MA, DPhil, Dean of Liverpool, in the diocese of Liverpool, for election as Bishop of Sheffield in succession to the Right Reverend Steven John Lindsey Croft, MA, PhD, on his translation to the See of Oxford on 6 July 2016.

The Very Reverend Dr Pete Wilcox, aged 55, studied history at Saint John’s College, Durham.

He trained for the ordained ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge and served his title at Preston-on-Tees, in the diocese of Durham from 1987 to 1990.

From 1990 to 1993, while completing a doctorate at St John’s College, Oxford, he was Non-Stipendiary Minister at Saint Margaret with Saint Philip and Saint James, with Saint Giles in the Diocese of Oxford. From 1993 to 1998 he was Team Vicar in the Parish of Gateshead, in the diocese of Durham, and Director of the Cranmer Hall Urban Mission Centre. From 1998 to 2006 he was Priest-in-Charge at Saint Paul’s at the Crossing, Walsall in the diocese of Lichfield and then Canon Residentiary at Lichfield Cathedral between 2006 and 2012. Since 2012 he has been Dean of Liverpool.

Pete is married to the novelist Catherine Fox, who lectures in creative writing at the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. They have 2 adult sons: Jon, who is married to Izzy, and Tom, who is engaged to Rosa.

He has a mildly obsessive interest in all ball sports, especially (as a fan of Newcastle United) football. He is the author of 3 books, including ‘Living the Dream: Joseph for Today’ (Paternoster, 2007).