The owner of a plumbers’ merchants has been banned from running a business after lying about his firm's turnover to get a bigger Covid-19 bounce back loan.

Imran Shahzad, 45, was the director of H.I.S. Bathrooms Ltd, based in North Street, Nelson.

Records from the Insolvency Service show Shahzad, of Every Street, Nelson, has been disqualified from being a company director for eight years after obtaining a loan the company was not entitled to.

Around May 20, 2020, Shahzad made an application for a Covid-19 Bounce Back Loan of £50,000 it was not entitled to.

Under the scheme, businesses could apply for a loan of between £2,000 and £50,000, subject to a maximum of up to 25 per cent of turnover, self-certified and taken from the calendar year 2019.

As a result of the application the company received £50,000 of public money, after Shahzad declared his company – founded in October 2018 – had a turnover in 2019 of £250,000.

Accounts for H.I.S. Bathrooms show that in 2019, the actual recorded turnover was £118,735, meaning the maximum amount the company was entitled to apply for was £29,696, meaning it received £20,304 more than it was entitled to.

The £50,000 loan was paid into H.I.S. Bathrooms account on May 21, 2020.

On November 23, 2022, the company went into voluntary liquidation, with total liabilities owed to creditors of £48,534, of which £35,000 related to the amount owed to pay back the bounce back loan.

It also owed £700 to HM Revenue and Customs, and 12 other creditors, with only £6,500 in assets left.

Shahzad resigned as the company’s sole director on November 7, the day before his director disqualification of eight years began.