Press release: Environment Agency announces £750,000 to tackle single use plastics

The EA’s new Plastics and Sustainability team will work with businesses, councils and community action groups to reduce plastic pollution

The announcement follows a pledge to eliminate avoidable waste and crack down on plastics as part of the government’s 25-year environment plan launched yesterday.

The pioneer project will see the creation of a new Plastics and Sustainability team across Devon and Cornwall working with businesses, local councils, charities and community action groups, such as the Bude Cleaner Seas Project.

The team will aim to reduce the amount of plastic pollution across land, rivers and the coastline. It will promote better environmental practices across industry, including a reduction in plastic waste from manufacturing, along with community campaigns to clean up pollution locally.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, made the announcement from Bude, Cornwall today where she met with groups and charities who strive to clean up the coastline and keep it free of pollution.

Emma Howard Boyd said:

The government’s ambitious plan for the environment is a significant step forward and the Environment Agency’s commitment to reduce plastic pollution shows how we are already working to put the plan into action.

Plastic pollution is a threat to our natural environment and our new team promises to tackle it head on. By working together, we can reduce the amount which enters our land, rivers and the sea and protect wildlife for future generations.

The Environment Agency’s work with partners to improve bathing waters has led to a dramatic improvement in water quality in recent years which has benefited coastal communities, visitors and tourism. A similar partnership approach will be taken by the new Plastics and Sustainability team. The ambitions for the project include:

  • A reduction of plastics reaching land, waterways and shorelines.
  • Promotion of better environmental practices in business and a reduction in plastic waste from the start of the manufacturing process.
  • Increased local engagement to change public behaviour and encourage more community action to tackle pollution.
  • Monitoring and research into ways plastics enter and affect the environment, supporting leading academics in the South West.

During Emma Howard Boyd’s visit to Cornwall, she also spent time at Bude Haven school speaking to children about their passion for protecting their coastline and met local business owner Tom Dawe to find out how he had made his beachside restaurant more sustainable.

Emma will return to Bude in June to mark World Oceans Day and to see the project’s progress.



News story: UK satellite maker acquired in multi-million deal

Glasgow-based miniature satellite manufacturer Clyde Space will join AAC Microtec to combine and strengthen the 2 companies’ position in the small and nanosatellite market.

The deal – worth £26 million – is a share and sale purchase agreement. AAC Microtec will own 100 percent of Clyde Space, with Clyde Space’s owners holding 49 percent of the Swedish space technology company.

Around 80 people are currently employed by Clyde Space in Glasgow. It is expected that the deal will create new jobs in both Scotland and Sweden, as well as other growth markets.

Completion of the deal is expected by the end of January 2018.

Gamechangers: Clyde Space

Combined companies

In joining, the 2 organisations have emphasised the complementary elements of each business, the opportunities for research and development (R&D) and cross-selling of products.

Since its launch in 2005, Clyde Space has built up an impressive customer base. It has worked with Nasa, the US Air Force, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency to supply over 2,000 subsystems to small spacecraft.

Clyde Space founder and CEO, Craig Clark said:

AAC’s complementing operations, advanced technology know-how, well-developed corporate structure and direct access to capital markets provide a great platform for the further development and growth of Clyde Space as well as the AAC group’s business as a whole.

AAC Microtec CEO Alfonso Barreiro said:

Our joint R&D capacity will be unique in our segment, enhancing our capability to offer state-of-the-art technology and supporting our strategy to develop robust products based on open architecture platforms to increase flexibility, scalability, and efficiency.

Small satellites

Clyde Space is now a significant presence in the CubeSat sector. CubeSats typically weigh just 4 kg and are about the size of a shoe box. They can take images of the Earth, collect data about weather and ocean behaviour and help connect ground-based communications.

The company led the launch of UKube-1 – Scotland’s first satellite in space. This was part of a contract with the UK Space Agency with support from Innovate UK.

Its work with the ESA, and a presence on the Innovate UK-supported TechDemoSat mission, also helped Clyde Space to innovate and grow.

Its expertise in small-scale satellites will now enable access to further markets with ACC, offering satellites that range from these small CubeSats to 500 kg satellites.



Press release: Waste offender prosecuted in Blackburn

David Holt, former owner of V10 Polymers Ltd, received an eight month suspended sentence, ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and contribute £10K in costs.

A Director of a former Lancashire waste plastics recycling business has been sentenced to 8 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work after his company breached its environmental permit, failed to comply with enforcement notices and continued to deposit waste despite suspension and subsequent revocation of its permit.

David Holt, 50, of Brockhall Village, Blackburn, was sentenced on Thursday, 04 January 2018 at Preston Crown Court after admitting three environmental offences relating to the operation of the former V10 Polymers Ltd waste plastics recycling business at Rockcliffe Works, Paterson Street, Blackburn.

The Environment Agency became aware of problems at the site in 2012 after complaints from members of the public. At that time, V10 Polymers Ltd was operating a waste plastics recycling business from the Rockcliffe Works site.

Due to concerns about the way the site was being operated, the Environment Agency served a formal notice requiring the company to remove all controlled waste from the site. It also advised the company to apply for an environmental permit if it wished to continue waste operations at Rockwell Works.

The Environment Agency made clear that any permit issued would require storage of combustible waste at the site to be improved and meet minimum fire prevention standards.

David Holt made an application for a permit for the site and included detailed proposals as to how the waste would be stored in the future to meet the requirements of the permit. The Environment Agency issued an environmental permit to V10 Polymers Ltd in response to this application.

However, the first inspection of the facility following the issue of the permit in April 2014 revealed excessive quantities of plastic waste stored in a manner that presented a fire risk and in breach of the company’s environmental permit.

Due to the Environment Agency’s concerns about the fire risk, a number of joint inspections were undertaken with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services.

The Environment Agency sought to work with Mr Holt, who was in day to day charge of the company’s operations, to bring about improvements in the storage arrangements and implement a mandatory fire prevention plan at the site. However, Mr Holt failed to adequately respond to those interventions.

This led the Environment Agency to revoke the site’s environmental permit from February 2016, further requiring the company to take steps to remove all remaining waste from the site by 21 March 2016.

The Environment Agency decided to prosecute after the company continued to illegally operate, despite the revocation of its permit, and failed to tackle the fire risk posed by excessive stockpiles of waste.

Environment Agency Officer, Karl Hunter said:

The operators of waste recycling facilities have a legal duty to comply with the requirements of their environmental permit to prevent the risk of harm to people and the environment.

In this case, David Holt deliberately stored an excessive quantity of combustible waste for a number of years without taking the necessary fire prevention measures. He failed to implement a fire prevention plan and repeatedly failed to act on notices served by the Environment Agency to do so. Even when the Environment Agency revoked the company’s permit, he continued to accept waste into the site, illegally.

The fire at the site on 21 August 2017, and three subsequent fires have had a significant impact on local residents and businesses and demonstrated that our concerns were well-founded. In September 2017 we used our emergency powers to create fire breaks within the waste, which significantly reduced the size and duration of subsequent fires. Had David Holt produced and complied with an adequate fire prevention plan, installing fire breaks within the waste, it would have greatly reduced the consequences of fires at the site.

We hope the court’s sentencing decision demonstrates the importance of companies adhering to their environmental permits.

On hearing mitigation on David Holt’s behalf, the court accepted that David Holt had not been a fly by night operator and had been working hard to try and maintain the business and those employed by it. The court also acknowledged his good character and contribution to his local community.

V10 Polymers Ltd and the previous site owner, Holt Developments Ltd, are now both in liquidation and the site has been sold to Driftdale Limited, an Isle of Man based property development company.

The new owner is responsible for ensuring that waste is removed from the site and correctly disposed of. The Environment Agency is working with Driftdale Ltd and our partner organisations to ensure this is completed as soon as possible. The new owners must also take all necessary steps to prevent fire until waste is removed from the site and the company has constant manned security to minimise the risk of further fires.

If you witness suspicious activity or a fire at the site, please call the emergency services. Environmental incidents should be reported to our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

Mr Holt was also ordered to pay £10,000 towards the Environment Agency’s costs.



Press release: Chippy directors served with ten year ban

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted a disqualification undertaking from Mr and Mrs Castrinakis, disqualifying them for five years from 10 December 2017.

An Insolvency Service investigation found Mr and Mrs Castrinakis caused or allowed the company to submit inaccurate statutory VAT returns to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Mr and Mrs Castrinakis’s disqualifications follow collaboration between the Insolvency Service and HMRC.

An in depth HMRC investigation revealed that the company had failed to record all of its cash takings and had therefore under-declared the VAT due to HMRC. As a result, HMRC raised a VAT assessment of £53,332.
At liquidation the company was stated as owing in excess of £164,000 to HMRC in relation to arrears of VAT, PAYE and National Insurance contributions and Corporation Tax.

Lawrence Zussman, Deputy Head of Investigations with the Insolvency Service said:

The periods of these disqualifications sends a clear message to other company directors that tax abuse of any kind, particularly when it comes to suppression of cash takings by directors will not be tolerated.

Much of the public service is funded by the correct amount of taxes being paid. By not declaring and paying the correct amount of taxes, the public has been deprived from receiving the services it deserves from the public sector. The Insolvency Service will not hesitate to take action against directors so they cannot abuse limited liability provided by trading through a company.

Gambino Fish Ltd (Company number 08645435) traded as Quality Fish, based in Central Parade, New Addington, Croydon.

Costas Castrinakis (date of birth July 1963) and Chrystalla Castrinakis (date of birth December 1966), and both of Thornton Heath, were directors of Gambino Fish Ltd, which was incorporated in August 2013.

Mr & Mrs Castrinakis have been disqualified for a period of 5 years each commencing from 1 December 2017.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

  • act as a director of a company

  • take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership

  • be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:



Press release: 14 year disqualification for previously banned director, and 8 year ban for his mother

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted a disqualification undertaking from Robert Patrick Murphy on 17 November 2017 that he would not act as a director for a period of 14 years, commencing from 8 December 2017.

Robert Patrick Murphy was disqualified from acting as a director for a period of four years from 12 September 2011, but an investigation by the Insolvency Service discovered that despite resigning as a director of Silverview Developments his role within the company did not change.

Mr Murphy’s mother, Ellen (also know as Eileen) Rosemary Murphy was appointed as the registered director and has also now been disqualified for eight years for allowing her son to act as a director whilst disqualified.

In addition, Robert and Ellen Murphy failed to disclose to the liquidator the existence of two on-going contracts that were transferred to another company which had a future turnover of over £1million, and oversaw the diversion of funds due to Silverview Developments totalling over £45,000 to be paid to another company. Additionally, they allowed Silverview Developments to trade to the detriment of HM Revenue & Customs from May 2012 until it’s liquidation in October 2014.

Robert Clarke, Group Leader of Insolvent Investigations North, part of The Insolvency Service, said:

Directors who ignore disqualification undertakings that they have previously given, and those who provide cover for them to allow them to continue to run limited companies, will be vigorously pursued by The insolvency Service.

The length of the undertakings in this case sends a clear message to the business community that such actions will not be tolerated.

Robert Murphy’s date of birth is May 1984 and he resides in Harrow, Middlesex

Eileen (aka Ellen) Murphy’s date of birth is August 1954 and she also resides in Harrow Middlesex.

Silverview Developments Ltd (CRN 07148732) was placed into creditors’ voluntary liquidation (CVL) on 30 January 2014 with a deficiency as regards creditors of £394,091. The company traded as a construction company from Kenton Road, Harrow, Middlesex.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

  • act as a director of a company

  • take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership

  • be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on: