A new dedicated taskforce is being created to target rogue directors setting up new firms from the ashes of their failed ones to avoid repaying debts.
Under a raft of measures to tackle fraud announced in the Autumn Budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves said she will give the Insolvency Service an extra £25m over the next five years.
The funding will be used to create a new Abusive Phoenixism Taskforce staffed by 50 people investigating suspicious company insolvencies.
The team will target phoenixism ─ which happens when a business becomes insolvent and a new one, with the same directors, is created shortly after, often leaving unpaid debts.
Dave Magrath, director of investigation and enforcement services at the Insolvency Service, said:…