Estate agency couple disqualified for 12 years over dodgy Covid loan

David and Jennifer Elderkin from Cornwall ran a failed estate agency in Fowey and in 2020 overstated their turnover to gain a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan.

fowey riuver view estatea agency

An estate agent couple have been banned from running a business for a combined 12 years after exaggerating the turnover of their estate agency in the pretty Cornish fishing town of Fowey in order to get a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan.

56-year-old David Elderkin over-stated the turnover of Fowey River Ltd to gain the loan, which was used in part to pay off a £10,000 debt to his father while a further £10,000 was used to pay off credit cards and a further £10,000 was transferred to another business the couple ran. Elderkin briefly held a now defunct Winkworth franchise at the same location as the Fowey River branch (main image).

His wife and co-director of the estate agency, 54-year-old Jennifer Elderkin, has also been banned from being the director of a company after she, along with her husband, admitted Covid Bounce Back Loan abuse.

The couple falsely claimed Fowey River Ltd had a turnover of £180,000 in May 2020 during the height of Covid to access the loan, which was used for their own personal use and not to support the business through Covid.

In reality it had a turnover of just £68,000 and went into liquidation in April 2021 having made no loan repayments.

Disqualification

david elderkindDavid Elderkin (pictured), of Carnon Downs, Truro, has signed a disqualification undertaking banning him from being a company director for eight years. Jennifer Elderkin, of the same address, signed a four-year undertaking.

Kevin Read, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, says: “David Elderkin was responsible for applying for more Covid support than his business was entitled to and then using the funds for his personal benefit.

“His wife Jennifer Elderkin aided her husband’s misconduct by allowing the money to not be used for the economic benefit of their Fowey River business.

“Tackling abuse of the Bounce Back Loan scheme is a key priority for the Insolvency Service and the behaviour of the Elderkins represents a significant breach of the standards that are expected of company directors.”


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