Middlebrook company director banned over Covid bounce back loan
Harvey Steven Jacobs, director of HSJ & Co Ltd, based in Middlebrook, has been barred from holding company directorships after a misapplication under the Government’s Bounce Back Loan (BBL) scheme.
The Prestwich-based director was found to have caused his company, to apply for a £38,000 Bounce Back Loan in June 2020 and a further £2,000 top-up in November 2020.
Both applications were made in breach of the scheme’s terms and based on an ineligible estimate of annual turnover.
The BBL scheme allowed businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000, capped at 25 per cent of their turnover.
Applicants were required to self-certify their turnover for 2019, or if established after January 1, 2019, to submit an estimated figure.
HSJ & Co Ltd was incorporated on May 27, 2020, and was therefore only eligible to state estimated turnover.
Mr Jacobs declared a turnover of £160,000 on the loan application.
However, company accounts for the period from May 27, 2020, to May 31, 2021, recorded income of just £54,095.
He stated on the application that the business was operating on March 1, 2020, and had been adversely affected by Covid-19.
He also certified that the company was engaged in UK trading at the time of the loan application.
Four business bank accounts were opened for HSJ & Co Ltd, the first on June 18, 2020.
HSJ & Co Ltd later entered liquidation with total liabilities of £110,361, including at least £36,598 relating to the ineligible BBL.
Mr Jacobs, whose last known address is in Prestwich, was handed a nine-year ban starting from April 23, 2026.
