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Three directors of marketing service companies, Glenn Andrew Delaney, Robert John Shillaker and Gareth Donald Onions, have been disqualified for a combined total of 24 years for causing or allowing the companies to trade to the detriment of HM Revenue & Customs, including not paying taxes due.

Following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, Mr Delaney, 62, director of DSPS Realisations Limited, which provided marketing services and traded in Solihull, has given an undertaking not to act as a director of a company for 8 years, and Mr Shillaker, 59, a director of DSPS Field Marketing Limited and Sure Connections Limited, which both provided marketing services and traded from Solihull, has given an undertaking not to act as a director of a company for 6 years.

Mr Onions, 61, is already disqualified as a director until 2018 for failing to ensure Deltaworld Limited paid its taxes to HMRC when he was a director. Mr Onions has given a further disqualification undertaking in respect of 3 companies (DSPS Realisations Limited, DSPS Field Marketing Limited and Sure Connections Limited) not to act as a director of a limited company for a period of 10 years. The two undertakings will run concurrently and consequently the period of Mr Onion’s disqualification is extended until 2025.

The investigation by the Insolvency Service showed that Mr Onions breached the restrictions of his earlier disqualification by acting as a director of all three companies between 04 March 2011 and 24 April 2013. Mr Delaney was the sole appointed director of DSPS Realisations Limited and was found to have allowed Mr Onions to breach the terms of his disqualification while Mr Shillaker was found to have allowed the same in DSPS Field Marketing and Sure Connections Limited, companies he was the sole appointed director of.

The investigation also found that the 3 directors had failed to ensure that the companies complied with their statutory obligations to make returns and payments to HMRC in respect of PAYE and VAT, resulting in HMRC being owed £976,640.

DSPS Realisations Limited went into Administration on 31 July 2012 and both DSPS Field Marketing Limited and Sure Connections Limited went into Liquidation on 24 April 2013. The companies had a combined loss to creditors of £1.67million

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

The total period of undertakings agreed in this case of 24 years disqualification sends a clear message to other directors that if they act as a director when not allowed to do so, allow others to continue to run limited companies whilst disqualified or fail to comply with statutory obligations to pay the Crown, The Insolvency Service will investigate you and you could lose the protection of limited liability.

Notes to editors

DSPS Realisations Limited (CRO No. 06332129) was incorporated on 02 August 2007 and was placed into Administration on 31 July 2012.

DSPS Field Marketing Limited (CRO No. 06332129) was incorporated on 27 April 2012 and was placed into Liquidation on 24 April 2013.

Sure Connections Limited (CRO No. 07665747) was incorporated on 10 June 2011 and was placed into Liquidation on 24 April 2013.

Mr Onions signed his undertaking on 27 February 2015 and it is due to commence on 20 March 2015. His date of birth is 8 December 1953.

Mr Delaney signed his undertaking on 6 March 2015 and it is due to commence on 27 March 2015. His date of birth is 17 June 1952.

Mr Shillaker signed his undertaking on 9 March 2015 and it is due to commence on 30 March 2015. His date of birth is 14 September 1955.

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

In addition that person cannot act as an insolvency practitioner and there are many other restrictions are placed on disqualified directors by other regulations.

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Further information on director disqualifications and restrictions is available.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, 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.