The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 18 May 2026.
- Philip Walker used the Atherton scheme to walk away from more than half a million pounds of debt owed by his cleaning company
- He made net payments of almost £200,000 from his insolvent business into a new company he controlled, knowing Solus Facilities Limited could not pay its creditors
- Walker has been disqualified as a company director for seven years following Insolvency Service investigations into users of the scheme
A cleaning boss has been banned as a company director after transferring almost £200,000 out of his insolvent business into his new company.
Leicestershire-based Philip Walker was the director of Solus Facilities Limited, a company providing cleaning services for restaurants.
However, by April 2023, the company was in financial difficulty, and unable to pay its debts.
Instead of following standard insolvency procedures, the 44-year-old used the Atherton scheme to avoid paying his debts, leaving creditors more than half a million pounds out of pocket.
Atherton was advertised as a corporate rescue service where directors of distressed companies were encouraged to sell their businesses as an “alternative” to entering formal insolvency proceedings such as liquidation.
Walker paid Atherton Corporate (UK) Ltd £16,500 in three instalments across the summer of 2023 for it to purchase Solus Facilities Limited’s liabilities.
During this period, Walker also set up a new phoenix company, Carbon White Group Ltd, of which he was director.
Solus Facilities Limited did not trade after Walker resigned as director and was replaced by Karen Mortimer, one of Atherton’s main enablers, in December 2023.
Despite this, Walker accessed the company’s account, making net payments of £198,100 to Carbon White Group Ltd between November 2023 and January 2024 when he knew that Solus Facilities Limited was insolvent.
Solus Facilities Limited went into liquidation in September 2024 owing creditors £513,090.
Walker, of Wykes Close, Quorn, has been disqualified as a company director for seven years.
Dave Magrath, Director of Investigation and Enforcement Services at the Insolvency Service, said:
Philip Walker made payments to his new company when he knew his former business had no reasonable prospect of avoiding liquidation, leaving creditors seriously out of pocket.
Indeed, many of these transfers were made when Walker had resigned as a director of Solus Facilities Limited yet was still accessing the company’s bank account.
These actions are deeply damaging to creditors and are completely unacceptable. Those who deliberately use companies repeatedly to avoid debts – known as abusive phoenixism – should be in no doubt that we will pursue them using all the enforcement tools at our disposal.
Mortimer, 67, was disqualified as a company director for seven years having put the creditors of 138 companies at risk of financial loss after taking control of businesses referred to her by Atherton Corporate UK (Ltd) and Atherton Corporate Rescue Limited.
Her sister Joanna Seawright, 55, also received a seven-year ban for her role in the Atherton scheme.
Atherton enabler Neville Taylor, 59, was disqualified as a company director for nine years in January 2025.
Suzanne Harley-Davies, 68, who failed to ensure her Atherton-linked companies operated for legitimate corporate purposes, was banned for four years in May this year.
Atherton Corporate (UK) Ltd and Atherton Corporate Rescue Limited, along with five companies which enabled the running of the scheme, were wound-up in the public interest in the summer of 2024.
Four more companies which formed part of the Atherton scheme – Atherton Corporate Partners LLP, Jones & Harlington Ltd, TYA GRP Ltd and TYA Two GRP Ltd – went into compulsory liquidation in early 2026 after Insolvency Service investigations.
Criminal investigations into the Atherton scheme remain ongoing. Six search warrants have been executed across the UK in the last three months with the support of the police.
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Walker, and his ban started on Friday 15 May.
It prevents him from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
Further information
- Philip Walker is of Wykes Close, Quorn, Leicestershire. His date of birth is 10 November 1981
- Solus Facilities Limited (company number 09796369)