Companies House spelling mistake caused firm’s collapse

A High Court ruling found Companies House was responsible for the collapse of Taylor & Sons Ltd after it told credit agencies the engineering company had gone into liquidation. In fact, it was Taylor & Son that had been wound up.

The missing letter mistake was recorded on the companies register on 20 February 2009. But by the time Companies House realised its mistake, three days later, a catastrophic series of events had been set in motion. Within two months the Welsh firm, established in 1875 and with roots from 100 years before, had gone into administration with the loss of 250 jobs.

“Companies House had already sold the false information to the credit reference agencies,” said Philip Davison-Sebry, 57, the former managing director and co-owner of Taylor & Sons Ltd. “We lost all our credibility as all our suppliers thought we were in liquidation. It was like a snowball effect.”

Within three weeks of the error, said Davison-Sebry, all of Taylor & Sons’ 3,000 suppliers had cancelled their contracts and credit lines for the company were withdrawn.

Companies House had already sold the false information to the credit reference agencies. We lost all our credibility as all our suppliers thought we were in liquidation. It was like a snowball effect. Philip Davison-Sebry, former managing director

“I was on holiday in the Maldives when I got a message to urgently contact Corus, one of our major clients. They said they weren’t happy at all I was on holiday, asking how could I be on holiday at a time like this?” he said.

“They said we were in liquidation and that the credit agencies had told them. I rang the office to find out what was going on – it was like Armageddon. This was all on the day of my wife’s 50th birthday. We will never forget it.”

Taylor & Sons’ biggest client Tata Steel withdrew, leaving the company £400,000-a-month poorer, and an expected £3million contract to construct three Royal National Lifeboat Institution stations never went ahead.

Although Companies House, which is an executive agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, denies any wrongdoing, a High Court judge ruled this week that it is legally responsible for Taylor & Sons’ collapse. Although the amount of damages has yet to be decided, Davison-Sebry’s lawyers value his claim at £8.8m.

The error is the only one of its kind ever recorded at Companies House. A spokesman for the agency said: “Companies House has recently received the judgement in this case and is currently considering the implications at this time. Until these considerations are complete we remain unable to comment further.”