How did Steve Dale pass the EFL and FA's fit and proper ownership test?
Building Hire and Leasing Ltd "On 4th November 2011, Steven Dale was appointed as a Director of Building Hire and Leasing Ltd.
On 25th November 2011 the Company's Assets such as plant and machinery, stock, hire fleet and client rental contracts were transferred to Dale Acquisitions Ltd.
On 11th January 2012 Dale resigned from Building Hire and Leasing Ltd.
On 28th July 2015, Building Hire and Leasing Ltd was dissolved. Unsecured creditors who put in claims were owed £2,385,498. Those who failed to claim were owed £724,496. They didn't receive a penny.
Dale Acquisitions Ltd's Accounts and Confirmation Statement are both seriously overdue. It has 3 charges registered against it.
On 5th January 2019, Dale Acqusitions Ltd was wound up by the Courts."
Prior to its compulsory winding up, administrators had been appointed to on 29 August 2012. On the Companies House website are two Court Orders dated 14 March 2015, one terminating the administration and one ordering that the company be wound up. To the first of these is appended the final report of the joint administrators, from which the following is a direct quote:
"4.1 In accordance with the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 I have submitted a report on the conduct of the Directors of the Company to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. As this is a confidential report, I am not able to disclose the contents.
[...]
"4.3 My investigations revealed the following issues namely transfer of assets at undervalue, preference payments and trading whilst insolvent."
Roscoe Industries Ltd"On another of Mr Dale's companies, Roscoe Industries Ltd, the joint compulsory liquidators' final progress report dated 23 March 2017 also makes interesting reading:
"2.2 I was advised on my appointment by the Official Receiver that the company may own or have an interest in two office units at 180 West Regent Street, Glasgow. I wrote to the director and asked if this was correct and to advise the nature of the company's interest, what the properties were used for and whether or not they were currently occupied.
"2.3 The director responded to advise that the company had been unable to secure funding for the proposed purchase of the properties and the sales therefore did not go ahead.
"2.4 I instructed solicitors to undertake Land Registry searches to identify the ownership. The Land Register indicated that Dale Acquisitions Limited, the company's former registered name, was the proprietor of the offices.
"2.5 I wrote to the director to advise him of the same. He failed to provide any evidence to suggest that the units were not owned by the company. I sought legal advice on how to deal with these properties in light of the director's comments. My solicitor advised that as the Land Register showed that the properties were owned by the company I was entitled to proceed on that basis."
[...]
"2.19 On my appointment the petitioning creditor advised me that they were aware that the company had a substantial amount of plant and machinery in 2013. I wrote to the director and asked what the current position was in respect of these assets and if the company still owned them to advise where they were located and provide me with an up to date schedule. Alternatively I asked if the assets were no longer owned by the company for copies of any sale documentation to evidence this.
"2.20 The director responded to advise that the company had sold the assets and that the liabilities of the company exceeded the value of these goods. I requested further information and documentation [...] however no response was received.
"2.21 The Official Receiver applied for the public examination of the former director of the company on 30 March 2015 as he had failed to co-operate. The former director failed to attend and therefore a warrant for his arrest was issued. The former director attended the Official Receiver's office for an interview however he did not provide any more information in respect of the sale.
"2.22 I determined, based on the limited information and documentation I had and the lack of co-operation from the director that it was not economical to pursue this claim any further."
Footnote: Dale Acquisitions Ltd (company no 07793260) was formed on 30 September 2011, four days after the purported transfer of assets from Building Hire and Leasing Ltd. It changed its name to Roscoe Industries Ltd on 20 January 2013. The present Dale Acquisitions Ltd, company no. 06758422, changed its name from Roscoe Park Ltd on 16 January 2014.
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