More directors of limited companies should be held liable for trading beyond the point the company was viable.
The Limited Liability system, common to almost every capitalist economy, is a joke. Owners are only liable for the money they invest, which is usually taken out ASAP, and they are free to run up unrecoverable debts with the only realistic punishment being disbarment from being a director (easily got round by having a spouse take the reigns).
I know someone who inherited a family business, nosed it into the ground owing £1.5m (not to mention the £100ks falsely claimed under the COVID scheme), who then newco'ed the business and started doing the same again. It was only doing the taxman twice that has resulted in an investigation and ongoing prosecution. Meanwhile people are out of work with no redundancy and suppliers have unrecoverable debts or have gone bust. On the funny side he owed his IT contractor £4k. The IT contractor shut down his business remotely and reported him to HMRC.
