Kyle McGinness

Introduction

Kyle McGinness is a 24-year-old Glasgow businessman who was disqualified as a company director for nine years after his firm, YSK Enterprises Limited, imported hundreds of thousands of vapes mislabelled as medical equipment, leaving HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) owed more than £15 million. McGinness and fellow director Leanne Moynes ran YSK Enterprises when Border Force intercepted a shipment of 352,688 vapes addressed to the company at Harwich in 2023, exposing an import-and-evade scheme that collapsed the firm into liquidation. The Insolvency Service announced the disqualifications in September 2026.

Background Information

YSK Enterprises Limited imported large quantities of vapes from China between February and April 2023, with McGinness and Moynes as its directors. The company told HMRC it owed no VAT on its sales and failed to submit any corporation tax returns at all. When HMRC later worked through the firm’s affairs, it calculated that YSK owed almost £15 million in unpaid VAT and customs duty, plus a further £437,101 in corporation tax; the company went into liquidation in 2024.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. The nine-year disqualification of Kyle McGinness is a civil sanction on the Insolvency Service’s court-track director-disqualification route, following Border Force and HMRC findings about YSK Enterprises’ imports and tax affairs. It is not a criminal conviction, and no criminal charges against McGinness are recorded in the Insolvency Service’s release. The facts below are drawn from that official announcement.

The scheme unravelled at the port. Border Force officers intercepted a shipment of 352,688 vapes addressed to YSK Enterprises Limited in Harwich in 2023, after goods labelled as nebulisers were found to be e-cigarettes. The interception exposed the paper trail behind it: the company had imported large quantities of vapes from China between February and April 2023, yet told HMRC it owed no VAT on the sales and filed no corporation tax returns whatsoever. HMRC’s subsequent calculation put the unpaid VAT and customs duty at almost £15 million, with corporation tax adding a further £437,101 — a total runaway bill that the firm, directed by McGinness and Moynes, never paid before entering liquidation in 2024.

The Insolvency Service’s investigation concluded the mislabelling was deliberate. Dave Magrath, Director of Investigation Services at the Insolvency Service, said illicit and unregulated vapes are “a growing problem on our high streets, putting consumers and legitimate businesses at risk,” and that McGinness and Moynes “went to considerable lengths to disguise what they were importing and then compounded that deception by telling HMRC they owed no tax at all. This was a deliberate attempt to avoid millions of pounds that should have been paid to the public purse.”

The liquidation compounded the picture. Moynes failed to preserve the company’s accounting records despite repeated requests from the liquidator, with the result that investigators could not verify what happened to more than £1.6 million of YSK’s assets, including land, machinery and vehicles — a shortfall attributed in the release to Moynes rather than McGinness. McGinness, of Glasgow, was disqualified as a company director for nine years in June 2026.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The disqualifications drew pointed statements from the three agencies involved. Magrath said director disqualification “is one of the tools we use to protect the public and legitimate businesses from those who think they can operate outside the rules,” adding that by securing the bans the Insolvency Service was “making sure McGinness and Moynes cannot put other companies, creditors or consumers at risk in the same way.” Richard Hopwood, Head of Insolvency Profession at HMRC, said: “We are determined to allow honest businesses to thrive which is why it’s crucial we work closely with the Insolvency Service and other partners to take action against anyone that undermines the tax system.” Phillip Holliday, Head of Central Region at Border Force, said: “Criminal gangs peddling illegal vapes and tobacco undercut honest businesses and blight our high streets.”

Current Status

McGinness’s nine-year disqualification took effect in June 2026. Moynes, 37, of Rutherglen, received an identical nine-year ban, with hers coming into effect on Thursday 13 August. Both bans were secured by the Insolvency Service following its investigation into the collapsed firm. The disqualifications prevent both former directors from managing, forming or promoting a company without the permission of the court. YSK Enterprises Limited remains in liquidation, with HMRC’s assessed bill of more than £15 million in unpaid VAT, customs duty and corporation tax outstanding and more than £1.6 million of the company’s assets still unverified.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The ban ends McGinness’s directorship outright: for nine years he cannot manage, form or promote any company in Britain without first obtaining the court’s permission, closing off the YSK Enterprises playbook entirely. The Insolvency Service framed the sanction as protection, saying the disqualifications ensure the pair “cannot put other companies, creditors or consumers at risk in the same way” — and, at 24, McGinness will spend a formative decade of his business life barred from the boardroom.

Sources

• The Insolvency Service / GOV.UK, “Glasgow directors banned after importing more than 350,000 vapes disguised as medical equipment in £15 million tax evasion scheme,” 10 September 2026 — source