Suzanne Harley-Davies

Introduction

Suzanne Harley-Davies is a 68-year-old company director from North Yorkshire who was disqualified for four years after failing to exercise control of two companies that supported the Atherton scheme — an arrangement that allowed business owners to walk away from their debts by selling their companies for £1 outside formal insolvency processes. Harley-Davies was a director of Namare GRP Ltd and TPG GRP Limited during 2023 and 2024. The Insolvency Service found she failed to exercise control of the affairs of both companies and failed to ensure they operated for legitimate corporate purposes. Her disqualification, accepted as an undertaking by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, began on 6 May 2026.

Background Information

The Atherton scheme was advertised as a corporate rescue service for struggling businesses. Directors of distressed companies were encouraged to sell their businesses as an “alternative” to entering formal insolvency proceedings such as liquidation. Under the scheme, directors paid fees of between £5,000 and £20,000 to have their company sold for £1, with new owners and directors installed. That allowed the original directors to walk away from their debts without entering formal insolvency — avoiding the scrutiny and legal obligations that process involves — while keeping their assets and dropping their debts.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. The four-year disqualification is a civil sanction imposed through the Insolvency Service for failing to exercise control and to ensure the companies operated for legitimate corporate purposes; the release records no criminal charge or conviction against her. Harley-Davies said she had no involvement in the creation, promotion or operation of the Atherton scheme, and the regulator’s own account accepts she made only “limited enquiries” — these findings are the adjudicated basis of the ban, not allegations of active participation.

Harley-Davies was a director of Namare GRP Ltd between July 2023 and July 2024, and of TPG GRP Limited between September 2023 and July 2024. Both companies were wound up in the public interest in 2024 for supporting the Atherton scheme and went into compulsory liquidation in August 2024 following Insolvency Service investigations.

The scale of what passed through the two companies was substantial. Namare GRP Ltd became the sole owner and person of significant control of at least 171 separate companies while Harley-Davies was one of its directors; TPG GRP Limited took on no additional companies during her tenure but already owned at least 58 when she joined. All had been purchased through the Atherton scheme.

The Insolvency Service found that Harley-Davies had no involvement in the scheme itself but made only “limited enquiries” into the actions of the two companies, and failed to take sufficient steps to ensure they were acting reasonably. Although she said she had no involvement in the creation, promotion or operation of the scheme, the regulator concluded that her failure to exercise her duties as a company director nonetheless allowed it to continue.

Dave Magrath, Director of Investigation and Enforcement Services at the Insolvency Service, said: “Improving director conduct is a key priority for the Insolvency Service and we are keen to help those who need support and want to do the right thing. However, there have to be consequences for those who deliberately neglect their duties to protect creditors and ensure a level playing field for businesses that follow the rules.”

Her ban followed earlier enforcement against the scheme’s key figures. Her co-director at both companies, Neville Taylor, was banned for nine years in January 2025 after being paid more than £250,000 to become the sole director of 12 distressed companies during 2022 and 2023, having made inadequate attempts to locate assets of more than £8 million from 11 of them before they entered liquidation. Sisters Karen Mortimer and Joanna Seawright were each banned for seven years in October 2025 after putting the creditors of 138 companies at risk of financial loss.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The Insolvency Service presented the case as a warning to anyone who agrees to take on a directorship. “This case sends a clear message to anyone who agrees to take on a directorship: you cannot turn a blind eye to what your companies are doing.” The agency added: “Accepting a role brings with it real responsibilities, and we will act where those responsibilities are ignored.”

The disqualification was announced as the latest enforcement action against those involved in the Atherton scheme, following the nine- and seven-year bans handed to other key figures. The regulator’s characterisation of her conduct was pointed: although Harley-Davies said she had no involvement in the creation, promotion or operation of the scheme, her failure to exercise her duties as a company director had nonetheless allowed it to continue.

Current Status

Harley-Davies’ disqualification took the form of an undertaking accepted by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. Her ban started on 6 May 2026 and prevents her, without the permission of the court, from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company. Individuals subject to a disqualification order or undertaking are bound by a range of restrictions.

The wider crackdown on the scheme has continued. Atherton Corporate UK (Ltd) and Atherton Corporate Rescue Limited were shut down at the same time as Namare GRP Ltd and TPG GRP Limited, and four other linked companies — Atherton Corporate Partners LLP, Jones & Harlington Ltd, TYA GRP Ltd and TYA Two GRP Ltd — were shut down earlier in 2026.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The four-year ban bars Harley-Davies from the promotion, formation or management of any company without the permission of the court from May 2026, ending her role as a director of Namare GRP Ltd and TPG GRP Limited, both now in compulsory liquidation. The Insolvency Service’s account of her conduct — a directorship spanning Namare GRP Ltd’s ownership of at least 171 scheme-purchased companies, with only “limited enquiries” made — now stands as the public record of how her career as a company director ended.

Sources

• The Insolvency Service / GOV.UK, “Four-year ban for director who neglected duties at companies linked to Atherton scheme,” 6 May 2026 — source