Eight Year Ban for Director of Home Improvements Firm

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 new windows and conservatories which it had not finished.

Fairweather Construction then went on to take another £177,900 in payments for construction projects it did not complete, including £37,370 in deposits for new work, before it was liquidated in the autumn of 2022.

Ban for Director

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.”

Home Improvement Specialist

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.

Homeowners Let Down

A series of homeowners were let down by the company after paying over their savings for work that was never even begun.

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 which were never built.

Numerous excuses were made by the company for why the orders were not fulfilled.

Covid Bounce Back Breach

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 court permission.

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