8-year ban for Glasgow management consultant who failed to keep adequate company records

Steven David Hutton, 47, from Glasgow, was the sole director of Marchmount Consulting, which was incorporated in December 2008 and traded as a management consultancy offering business support services from Newton Place in Glasgow.

The company went into liquidation in March 2020 owing nearly £46,000, which triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

But investigators were unable to verify the true financial position of the business, as Mr Hutton had failed to keep adequate accounting records for the company from 1 January 2019 until its liquidation in March 2020.

Investigators analysed the three business bank accounts used by Marchmount Consulting and discovered that around £63,800 had been paid into the company during this time.

However, they were unable to ascertain whether these receipts were actually for services provided by Marchmount Consulting and whether the income had been used for the benefit of the company.

The lack of financial accounting also meant that investigators could not verify the true nature of the expenditure paid out by the company, which included more than £8,000 to two connected businesses, one of which also listed Mr Hutton as a director, and £4,500 to two people who were linked to the second business.

Payments of £2,700 were also made to Mr Hutton himself, and around £40,700 of additional expenditure was unaccounted for.

And investigators were unable to discover what happened to assets of £137,340 that had been recorded in the company accounts up to 31 December 2018 — the last day that records had been kept.

The bank analysis also found that the company was owed more than £369,700, but due to a lack of company records, there was no way to identify whether those owing the money, including around £137,355 owed by a connected company, had made any payments to the company bank accounts since 1 January 2019.

The sheriff at Glasgow Sheriff Court granted a disqualification order against Steven Hutton on 24 October 2022. His ban lasts for eight years, and began on 14 November 2022. The disqualification prevents him from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.