Eight-year ban for director of home improvements firm which failed to complete more than £300,000 of building work
The company accepted payments for projects when it was insolvent
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Samantha Fairweather was the sole director of Fairweather Construction Ltd when it took payments from customers for home improvements it did not complete
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The company had already failed to finish building work such as new conservatories and windows when it accepted the additional payments
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Fairweather Construction had substantial debts at the time it took the payments, including owing more than £100,000 in tax
The boss of an Essex construction firm which took more than £300,000 in deposits for home improvements work it never completed has been disqualified as a director for eight years.
Samantha Fairweather, 53, was the sole director of Fairweather Construction Ltd when it sought advice from an insolvency practitioner in April 2022, owing more than £100,000 in unpaid tax.
The company had taken deposits from homeowners worth more than £150,000 by this time for building work such as the installation of new windows or conservatories which it had not finished.
However, Fairweather Construction then proceeded to take a further £177,900 in payments for further building projects it did not complete, including £37,370 in deposits for new work, before it was liquidated in the autumn of 2022.
Neil North, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Samantha Fairweather knew, or ought to have known, that the company she was a director of had unpaid debts to HMRC and had been unable to fulfil its obligations to existing customers.
The company then took significant amounts of money from homeowners for house extensions and projects which were never done.
Members of the public need protection from this kind of activity which is why Fairweather will no longer be able to act as a company director until October 2032.
Fairweather, of Maitland Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, was the only director of Fairweather Construction since it was established in December 2014.
The company marketed itself as a home improvement specialist, with its work mainly focused on properties around the Essex and Hertfordshire border. Its registered office address was more than 150 miles away on Wood Lane, Heskin, Lancashire.
However, homeowners from further afield also lost out as a result of the company’s actions.
One couple from south London paid Fairweather Construction £12,500 for new windows in July 2022, but the order was never placed with the manufacturer.
Similarly, a woman from Saffron Walden paid the company £4,500 for new windows in August 2022, which were never fitted.
In the same month, Fairweather Construction took £18,000 from customers in the Bishop’s Stortford area for a new conservatory and extensions to an existing one which were not built.
Numerous excuses were made by the company for why the orders were not fulfilled.
Fairweather also caused her company to breach the Covid Bounce Back Loan Scheme in May 2020 by using £11,000 of the £50,000 she obtained to repay a director’s loan.
These payments were not for the economic benefit of the business as they had to be under the rules of the scheme.
Fairweather Construction entered liquidation in September 2022 with liabilities of more than £700,000.
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Fairweather, and her eight-year ban began on Monday 21 October.
The disqualification prevents her from becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
Further information
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Samantha Fairweather is of Maitland Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. Her date of birth is 29 April 1971.
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Fairweather Construction Ltd (company number 09345352)
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Individuals subject to a disqualification order or undertaking are bound by a range of restrictions