The Director of a scaffolding firm has been hit with a six year ban for failing to keep adequate accounting records.

Cornelius Anthony O’Grady, 51, of Birmingham scaffolding provider Polar Scaffolding (Bristol) Ltd (Polar) was disqualified from acting as a Director for six years for failing to keep and deliver satisfactory records. This failure led to over £150,000 worth of company assets remaining unfound.

The firm entered voluntary liquidation on 20th February 2013 with nil assets and liabilities of just over £143,000.

However, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, neither the firm’s Liquidator nor the Service were able to confirm what had happened to over £150,000 of the company’s assets, or verify between the last accounts and the liquidation whether Mr O’Grady received the £70,000 the company owed him.

The registered Director of the firm since January 2009, Mr O’Grady did not dispute that he had failed to make sure that the firm preserved and produced adequate accounting records.

The disqualification order takes effect from 13th February 2015 until 2021.

Head of Insolvent Investigations North at the Insolvency Service Robert Clarke said: “Without a full account of transactions it is impossible to determine whether a director has discharged his duties properly, or is using a lack of documentation as a cloak for impropriety,”

“This Director has paid the price for failing to do that, as he cannot now carry on in business other than at his own risk.”