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Phillip Atsu Tsegah, the sole registered director of Oval Vehicle Valeting Company Limited, has been disqualified from acting as a company director for six years for causing the company to employ two workers who did not have the right to work in the UK.

The disqualification follows collaboration between the Insolvency Service and Home Office Immigration Enforcement (formerly UK Border Agency).

Having visited Oval Vehicle Valeting Company Limited, operating out of premises in Blackwater Way, Aldershot in December 2013, UK Border Agency officials found Phillip Atsu Tsegah 59, had employed two illegal workers, in breach of immigration laws and the company was served with a penalty of £10,000.

Despite having sufficient company funds available in its bank account after the penalty had been imposed, the company failed to pay and went into liquidation in March 2014.

Mr Tsegah, gave a disqualification undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills that he will not act as a director of a limited company for six years from 31 August 2015.

Commenting on the disqualification, Mark Bruce, a Chief Investigator with 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 individuals who did not have the right to work in the UK in breach of his duty 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.

The ban means Mr Tsegah may not be a director of a company or be involved in the management of a company in any way for the duration of his disqualification without leave of the court.

Oval Vehicle Valeting Company Limited was formed in September 2007. The company went into liquidation in March 2014 with a deficiency of more than £28,000 including £10,000 which was owed to The UK Border Agency in respect of the penalty imposed for employing illegal workers.

Notes to editors

Phillip Atsu Tsegah 59, was the sole director of Oval Vehicle Valeting Company Limited (Company Registration No. 06367192) which was incorporated in 2007.

Mr Tsegah has undertaken not to act in the management of a company for a period of six years from 31 August 2015. He is of London and his date of birth is 17 January 1956.

The illegal workers were employed in contravention of the Immigration & Nationality Act 2005.

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.

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