Businessman gets directorship ban after false Covid cash claims

THE former boss of a Plymouth printing business has been banned from being a company director for 10 years, after applying for thousands of pounds in Covid loans he was not entitled to.

An investigation found Simon King, who ran Stonehouse’s Blackfriars Contracts Ltd, claimed two Bounce Back Loans (BBL) for his business totalling £80,000 – which was £30,000 more than the maximum allowed by the scheme. The ban comes on top of an existing fiveyear disqualification, also for BBL abuse. In March this year, he was banned from running a company after receiving £50,000 he was not entitled to because he was insolvent.

King, aged 65, was director of Blackfriars Contracts Ltd, from when it was incorporated in 2012 until the firm went into liquidation in December 2020. The business had been part of a long-running family printing operation, referred to as a “hidden treasure” in Plymouth’s business world.

When it went into liquidation, the company had debts of more than £230,000. King later had a bankruptcy order made against him personally, in July 2021, owing more than £100,000 and leading to the bankruptcy restriction being placed on him.

In that instance, he had exaggerated his income as a sole trader in another business, Blackfriars Contracts Division, to claim a £50,000 loan to which he had not been entitled. This was because his business did not have a turnover of £200,000 for the calendar year 2019.

King’s repeated abuse of the BBL scheme came to light through an audit of Blackfriars Contracts Ltd, which uncovered detailed records.