Husband and wife owners of Falkirk events firm given 17-year ban as company collapse exposes director’s breach

Steven Rooney, 52, had been running ABC Events for seven years until it was wound up in October 2018.

But investigators from the UK Government’s Insolvency service found that Mr Rooney was running the company in breach of a six-year disqualification that led to his resignation in November 2014 - and that his wife, Linn Rooney, was fully aware of the misconduct.

He was banned because he did not maintain sufficient records, failed to pay taxes and transferred nearly £50,000 of assets to an associated company to the detriment of creditors while at a company called Buildtweed.

Mrs Rooney, 40, was appointed director of ABC Events in November 2016, but left the day-to-day running of the business to her husband despite knowing he was banned from doing so.

Her husband initially acknowledged to investigators he worked for ABC Events, which would have been allowed, but denied acting as a director.

However, former employees confirmed that Mrs Rooney left the day-to-day running of the company to her husband and that he authorised all of the firm’s expenses, dealt with wages and held full responsibility for ABC Event’s bank accounts.

After court proceedings were initiated, the Secretary of State accepted an 11-year disqualification undertaking from Mr Rooney and a six-year disqualification undertaking from Mrs Rooney on September 28.

Rob Clarke, chief investigator for the Insolvency Services, said: "Steven Rooney’s misconduct finally caught-up with him when his events company collapsed, shining a light on the fact that he was running the company despite his disqualification. Not only did he totally disregard his previous ban, but his wife, Linn Rooney, was fully aware of his misconduct.

"The length of this ban for Steven Rooney and the disqualification of his wife, demonstrates that we will tackle those who try to get around their bans by appointing their spouse as director, while continuing to run the business themselves behind the scenes."

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.