Insolvency Services has updated its information on Keith Smith also known as Kanban. The Insolvency Services also released the information that HMRC is owed at least £232,794 in unpaid taxes(A summary has been included as well as a screenshot).
From the screenshot.
Conduct: Mr Keith Alfred Fenwick Smith (‘Mr Smith’) failed to ensure that Aspire Crafts Ltd (‘ACL’) met its financial commitments as regards VAT and PAYE/NIC and caused ACL to trade to the detriment of HM Revenue & Customs (‘HMRC’) from at least 07 December 2016 when VAT for the quarter to October 2016 fell due, to its administration in November 2018.
**As a consequence, HMRC is owed at least £232,794 in unpaid taxes. In that: **
• ACL was registered for VAT on 01 May 2013;
• Payments were not made on time from April 2014; the last payment to VAT was made on 08 September 2017 and at the administration date a balance of £6,584 remained outstanding for the quarter to October 2016, which should have been settled by 07 December 2016;
• HMRC has claimed £140,517 for VAT due on returns submitted up to July 2018; • In addition, estimated VAT of £34,129 accrued to the date of the administration order, giving total VAT outstanding of £174,646.
• At the administration order date PAYE/NIC was outstanding from August 2017 and a total of £58,148 was due;
**• Accounts for the year to April 2017 show trade & expense creditors of £219,042, at the date of the administration order trade creditors were owed £111,334; **
**• HMRC was owed £77,120 in April 2017 and £232,794 was outstanding in VAT and PAYE/NIC at the date of the administration order; **
• Bank statements disclose expenditure of £925,121 from 01 May 2018, of which £16,391 was paid to HMRC;
• Mr Smith has submitted a claim for £1,552 in the administration.
This information is all in the public domain and is available to view at the Insolvency Service website. https://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/IESdatabase/viewdisqualdetail.asp?courtnumber=08512676
In Summary
In July 2019 Keith Smith went on video and announced that “. . . that after 22 years I’ve left Kanban I know that’s a bit of a shock to a lot of us, but I’ve left with the mutual consent of the new owners Ideal Shopping Direct. I’ve left to pursue new opportunities, new horizons . . . “
What he fails to mention in the video is that when Ideal Shopping Direct bought the assets of Aspire Crafts Ltd it appears to have been the original intention that both he and his wife Karen would continue as directors of a company trading with the Kanban name.
The required notice was posted in the London Gazette to that intention https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3181436
However, these two directors of Aspire Crafts Ltd had been trading illegally using the name Kanban as they didn’t post a similar notice when they wanted to continue using the Kanban name following the administration of Kanban Crafts Ltd.
When a company goes into Administration the Administrators have to submit a report on the conduct of its directors. It was as a result of this that Aspire Crafts’ Administrators reported Keith & Karen Smith for breaches of Section 216 of the Insolvencies Act 1986 which means they couldn’t be involved in the running of any company trading as Kanban or any similar name.
The Administrators also stated that under S217 the Smiths may be held personally liable for any Aspire Crafts Ltd debts while it traded under the Kanban name. HMRC were responsible for putting Aspire Crafts Ltd into Administration by issuing a winding-up order due to the non-payment of taxes (HMRC are owed £242K).
The real reason Keith Smith left Kanban was that legally, he was unable to stay.
Also, as a result of the Administrator investigations and with effect from 24 September 2020 both Keith & Karen Smith were disqualified from becoming company directors for 3 years and 6 months. This relates to their conduct while acting for Aspire Crafts Ltd under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (Section 7): Disqualification order or undertaking; and reporting provisions.
As a result of this disqualification and although it appears he remains the only stockholder of Paper Dienamics, Keith Smith has had to terminate his appointments as Director and Person With Significant Control of that company. The company now has Taylor Smith, the 22-year-old daughter of Keith and Karen Smith, as its Director and Person With Significant Control.
