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Stuart Wright, a director of Opticore Ltd, a telecommunications cabling company that traded from sites in Chorley, Lancashire and Livingston, West Lothian has been disqualified for a further ten years for breaching an existing five-year ban. The disqualification follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Mr Wright, 49, of Willaston, Neston has given an undertaking that he will not act as a director, control or manage a company from 1 April 2013 until April 2023.

Mr Wright was formally appointed a director of Opticore Ltd between 25 February 2005 and 16 August 2006, but continued to act as a shadow director. In January 2007, he was banned from being a director for five years, following his conduct while in control of a separate company, Livtel Ltd (wound up in 2004).

Despite this ban, Mr Wright continued to act as a shadow director for Opticore Ltd, controlling financial operations and handling negotiations for which he was well paid, in clear breach of the undertaking he had signed.

Opticore ceased to trade on 10 June 2011 and entered voluntary liquidation on 5 July 2011 owing over £600,000 to creditors.

Commenting on the disqualification, Robert Clarke, Head of Company Investigations, Birmingham said:

“The substantial period of the undertaking in this case clearly shows that those who are disqualified must respect the restrictions placed upon them or they will face a further lengthy ban to protect the public.

”Directors are disqualified for good reason – to protect the public and the broader business environment. Those who ignore the restrictions placed upon them are seeking to abuse the system and will not be tolerated.”

Notes to Editors

1. Opticore Ltd was incorporated on 6 November 2002, ceased trading on 10 June 2011 and entered voluntary liquidation on 5 July 2011. The company operated from two offices, one in the building of its main contractor at Chorley and the other in Livingston, Scotland

2. On 11 March 2013 an undertaking was accepted from Mr Stuart Wright, which is due to commence on 1 April 2013.

3. Livtel Ltd was wound up in Birkenhead County Court on 22 March 2004.

4. 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; be a liquidator or administrator of a company; or be a receiver or manager of a company’s property.

5. Further information on director disqualifications and restrictions can be found at http://www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency/Companies/insolvent-companies/director-disqualification-and-other-action.

6. 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. The Service also 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 is available from www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency

7. You can now subscribe to get e-mail alerts from The Insolvency Service. To subscribe, go to our website The Insolvency Service | BIS and you will see a button to “sign up for email alerts and newsletters”, or click on the link below and follow the instructions: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKBIS/subscriber/new

8. The Insolvency Service is on twitter, you can follow us here: @insolvencygovuk