3½ year ban for boss hit by scandal

The boss of a scandal-hit Lanarkshire clinical waste firm which let body parts pile up hasbeenbannedfromrunning companies.

Healthcare Environmental Services (HES), which was based in Shotts, removed waste from every hospital, GP surgery, dental practice and pharmacy in Scotland, but lost lucrative NHS contracts in 2018 after it allowed body parts to stockpile at several sites.

Ex-boss Alison Pettigrew, wife of former co-director Garry Pettigrew, has now been disqualified by Government agency the Insolvency Service (IS).

All 400 staff at HES were given redundancy notices in December 2018 as a result of the body-parts scandal, which included sites it operated in England, and the company went into liquidation in April 2019.

It said Mrs Pettigrew, 52, breached her “fiduciary duty” by allowing HES to transfer assets valued at £2,979,383 to connected firms in the two months before the firm collapsed – sparking a national clinical waste crisis.

It is understood that Mr Pettigrew’s conduct is also being investigated by the watchdog.

Alison Pettigrew, who is currently listed on the board of five active firms in Companies House, will not be permitted to act as a director for three-and-a-half years.

Outlining what happened to HES’s finances as it went bust, IS told our sister title the Daily Record: “The transfers had the effect of putting assets beyond the reach of creditors at a time when Mrs Pettigrew knew, or ought to have known, that the company was facing the loss of contracts and severely restricted trading due to breaches of Environment Agency permits.”

An IS spokesman said she “abused her position when she transferred nearly £3million worth of assets out of the company”.He added: “Not only did she ignore professional advice but she acted to the detriment of her creditors.”

Mrs Pettigrew did not respond to requests for comment.