Homes under the Hammer property developer banned for nine years
Norman Thornton appeared in famous TV series but now cannot be company director until 2030 after hiding cash from creditors.
A property developer couple have been banned by the Insolvency Service for nine years after hiding more than £124,000 from creditors when their firm went bust.
Directors Jane and Norman Thornton ran Norjan (Properties) Limited in Telford, which went into liquidation in July 2020, owing £411,000.
The liquidator discovered that Norjan had told its major client to direct payments into a new bank account belonging to a third party between February and April 2020.
It discovered that the company had been trading while insolvent from at least July 2017 and had an outstanding county court judgement of nearly £34,500.
Their disqualifications mean the pair can’t, directly or indirectly, be involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company without the court’s permission.
TV property developer
Property developer Norman Thornton previously ran Winthorn Developments and featured on TV show Homes under the Hammer in 2010 after successfully bidding for a home in Dawley at auction, telling viewers he’d been developing properties for 30 years and planned to spend £20,000 renovating the property to then sell or let out.
However, according to Companies House, he’s still running a building firm – Norprop Builders Ltd – which was set up at the end of 2019 but is eight months overdue filing its annual accounts and has received scathing Google reviews.
Surprisingly, Norjan Properties is also still listed as an approved contractor on the Guild of Builders and Contractors website.
Nina Cassar (pictured), chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, says: “In December 2019, Mr Thornton told bailiffs that Norjan (Properties) Limited didn’t have any funds to pay its debts.
“Then, with knowledge of the financial position, over £124,000 was placed out of the reach of creditors. This ban should serve as a warning to other directors that you have a duty to your creditors. If you neglect this duty, you could be investigated by the Insolvency Service and lose the privilege of limited liability trading.”
Read more: Property lettings boss sentenced after breaking director disqualification order
