Christine faces penalty after failing to file accounts on time
TV presenter Christine Lampard could be heading for a £375 fine for failing to file her accounts on time.
Her company — Chrisola Entertainment — has a bank balance of almost £3 million.
But Companies House records confirm the former Dancing On Ice competitor (38) already owes a penalty of £150 for being late with her latest accounts.
And the fine for the Newtownards-born star will more than double if her business does not get its paperwork in before the end of June. This will rise to £1,500 if company directors are more than six months late with their books.
The presenter, who married multi-millionaire former footballer Frank Lampard in 2015, previously spoke about her fierce desire to become financially independent.
“My mum drummed it into me that I should always have my own identity and should never rely on others.
“So I’ve always taken pride in being able to look after myself all the way through school and throughout my television career. I might be the girlfriend of a footballer, but I’ve got my own life and my own career,” she said in a 2012 interview.
Mrs Lampard’s Somerset-registered firm’s last accounts from 2015 show it had £2,857,944 in the bank, when money owed by debtors is included. The total is down £77,168 on the 2014 total, which was £2,935,112.
Mrs Lampard set up Chrisola Entertainment in 2009 to handle her earnings after she landed the co-hosting job on the BBC’s One Show in 2007 alongside Adrian Chiles.
Her younger sister Nicola became and remains company secretary, with Christine its sole director.
Mrs Lampard received an advance of £287,622 for the year ending February 2013 but repaid £149,285. The previous year she was paid £350,000 but returned £103,000.
An alert on the Companies House website shows a red exclamation alongside Mrs Lampard’s company. It comes with the message her accounts for the year ending June 2016 were due at the end of March. The last accounts filed were June 2015.
It emerged last year thousands of company directors have been prosecuted for not filing their annual returns and accounts on time by an increasingly litigious Companies House, which collected £81m in late filing penalties in 2014.