To wonder how a company can do this?! (Someone business minded would know!)

[BlueNeighbourhood]

I work in an industry whereby it's my job to know about other companies in the local area and what they are doing and offering and staffing levels.

I came across a certain company a while ago as I went to school with the girlfriend of the owner of the business. It turns out the owner was interviewed by my present company who had a less than favourable review of him and that he's arrogant, condescending and not a good people person. Anyway, these two have a company they set up, lets call it Computer Farm.

After about a year they filed for liquidation, I read the report and they owed around £600k to their creditors mainly which were Revenue & Customs and their building that they rent/bought. They had quite a few employees, all salespeople and a couple of marketing.

After a couple of months of being in liquidation, today I'm astonished to come online and find out they've changed the company name to Desk Farm and are trading again in the same building, same staff, same everything.

How does someone get away with this? Obviously said person can't have much business sense if they managed to rack up £600k of debt in the space of a year and go into voluntary liquidation, but how are they allowed to set up again the same company in the same building with a different name? Surely they'll just end up owing all this money again?

Someone please explain as it's like a cowboy getting away with it!

Slightly OT, but the thing that gets me is how much personal 'stuff' is allowed to be kept by directors' families when assets are seized.

The original rationale was presumably that it's not poor incapable wifey's fault her husband did bad, she didn't know what he was doing, she can't fend for herself (and children), and they don't deserve to be on the streets.

However, in many cases, they either knew or bloody should've known (la, la, fingers in ears), can downsize post-confiscation, and get a job like the rest of us.

Can't find links off-hand, but I've come across a couple of cases where the family was allowed to keep £1m houses because it was "their home", even though they could have been housed fine in a flat at a third the cost; or where they kept the money for DC private school as it would have been "unsettling" for them to have to move.

A furniture store near to me is on its fifth reincarnation, each time just changing the name a little bit - think along the lines of Green Door Company, Black Door Company, The Door Company etc. Surely there must be some law which can be passed to stop this happening?

Surely there must be some law which can be passed to stop this happening?

The laws are there. Unfortunately, the govt quangos, HMRC and Insolvency service aren't interested in policing/prosecuting except for the biggest high profile cases.

I know someone who was quite good at this. Double glazing firm. It does seem morally wrong especially when creditors are owed.

KAzzy I think thats changing - in my recent case HMRC have funded some legal time allow administrators to pursue a case against the director