County Antrim director disqualified for 14 years

Date published: 2 February 2026

The Order was made for fourteen years against Jacqueline Clarke (63) of The Mill, Six Mile Water Mill, Co. Antrim in respect of her conduct as director of DEC (N.I.) Ltd, DJD (N.I.) Ltd, The Parkhall Chippy (N.I.) Limited, DRC (N.I.) Ltd and Balloo Investments (N.I.) Ltd (“the Companies”). 

DEC (N.I.) Ltd traded in the business of licensed restaurants with a registered office at 26 Ballymoney Road, Ballymena, BT43 5BY. The Company went into liquidation on 15 September 2022 with an estimated deficiency as regards creditors of £50,000. There was a total of £1 owing as Share Capital, resulting in an estimated deficiency as regards members of £50,001.

DJD (N.I.) Ltd traded in the business of licensed restaurants with a registered office at 26 Ballymoney Road, Ballymena, BT43 5BY. The Company went into liquidation on 15 September 2022 with an estimated deficiency as regards creditors of £50,000. There was a total of £1 owing as Share Capital, resulting in an estimated deficiency as regards members of £50,001.

The Parkhall Chippy (N.I.) Limited traded in the business of take-away food shops and mobile food stands with a registered office at 26 Ballymoney Road, Ballymena, BT43 5BY. The Company went into liquidation on 15 September 2022 with an estimated deficiency as regards creditors of £152,214.90. There was a total of £1 owing as Share Capital, resulting in an estimated deficiency as regards members of £152,215.90.

DRC (N.I.) Ltd traded in the business of licensed restaurants with a registered office at 26 Ballymoney Road, Ballymena, BT43 5BY. The Company went into liquidation on 15 September 2022 with an estimated deficiency as regards creditors of £50,000. There was a total of £1 owing as Share Capital, resulting in an estimated deficiency as regards members of £50,001.

Balloo Investments (N.I.) Ltd traded in the activities of other holding companies not elsewhere classified with a registered office at 26 Ballymoney Road, Ballymena, BT43 5BY. The Company went into liquidation on 15 September 2022 with an estimated deficiency as regards creditors of £50,000. There was a total of £2 owing as Share Capital, resulting in an estimated deficiency as regards members of £50,002.

The Court made the Disqualification Order against Jacqueline Clarke on 8 January 2026 based on the following unfit conduct which solely for the purposes of the disqualification procedure were not disputed:

1. She knew when applying for the Bounce Back Loan, that DEC (N.I.) Ltd was not trading and therefore had not been / could not be impacted by Covid-19 as the Company had not commenced trading at that point.  Furthermore, she knew and / or ought to have known that the Bounce Back Loan would not provide an economic benefit to the Company.  As such, DEC (N.I.) Ltd was neither entitled to claim nor receive, financial assistance from a Bounce Back Loan; 
2. She applied for and received the maximum Bounce Back Loan of £50,000 in respect of DJD (N.I.) Ltd from Barclays bank which she knew or ought to have known the Company was not fully entitled. She certified that her annual turnover was £225,000 when it was £67,929.06 as calculated for the 2019 calendar year for DJD (N.I.) Ltd, obtaining an additional £33,018 of Bounce Back Loan as a result;
3. She caused and / or permitted the misapplication of Company funds in each of the following companies:-

• Parkhall Chippy (N.I.) Limited – she used the Bounce Back Loan and / or Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan for the benefit of Balloo Investments (N.I.) Ltd, a connected company of which she was sole director.  The Bounce Back Loan monies transferred to the connected company did not provide an economic benefit to The Parkhall Chippy (N.I.) Limited, contrary to the loan terms;
• DJD (N.I.) Ltd – she used the Bounce Back Loan and / or company funds for the benefit of Balloo Investments (N.I.) Ltd, a connected company of which the Respondent was sole director.  The Bounce Back Loan monies transferred to the connected company did not provide an economic benefit to DJD (N.I.) Ltd, contrary to the loan terms;
• DRC (N.I.) Ltd – She used the Bounce Back Loan and / or Covid support grant for the benefit of Balloo Investments (N.I.) Ltd, a connected company of which the Respondent was sole director.  The Bounce Back Loan monies transferred to the connected company did not provide an economic benefit to DRC (N.I.) Ltd, contrary to the loan terms;
• DEC (N.I.) Ltd – She used the Bounce Back Loan for the benefit of Balloo Investments (N.I.) Ltd, a connected company of which the Respondent was sole director.  The Bounce Back Loan was therefore not used for its intended purpose as it did not provide an economic benefit to DEC (N.I.) Ltd; and

d)    She provided a false and misleading declaration within her application form with Funding Circle. She applied for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan, when she had already received a Bounce Back Loan.  She signed a declaration that the Company would refinance the Bounce Back Loan in full, however only £1,794.76 of the Bounce Back Loan was repaid. This resulted in The Parkhall Chippy (N.I.) Limited obtaining the benefit of an additional £48,205.24, to which the Company was not entitled.

The Department accepted eleven Disqualification Undertakings and the Court made four Disqualification Orders in the financial year commencing 1 April 2025.