Company which promised directors they could ‘walk away’ from failing businesses is shut down

The Insolvency Service shut down a company that claimed it could help directors of failed businesses ‘walk away’ with ‘no comeback’ after an investigation.

Leeds-based Ellan NW Ltd, trading as Knowsley Recovery, claimed it could help directors avoid the insolvency system by arranging the purchase of their struggling companies. The company claimed the new owners of the business would then ‘attempt to negotiate with creditors’, but creditors who complained about Ellan NW Ltd said they were unable to contact the organisation to get back the money they were owed.

The Insolvency Service investigation found that Ellan NW Ltd had facilitated the purchase of about 226 companies from directors who paid thousands of pounds in fees.

The director of Ellan NW Ltd failed to cooperate with the Insolvency Service investigation. His representatives claimed the company had closed in July 2025, but its bank accounts showed that it received more than £1 million since January 2023, including more than £80,000 between July and December 2025. Between January 2023 and December 2025, unexplained payments worth £573,922 were identified as being made from the company to its director.

Analysis of the company’s bank statements also revealed significant spending of more than £200,000 on personal expenses, including flights totalling £28,331, hotel stays in Dubai, Toronto, New York and Dublin and restaurant bills.

The Insolvency Service’s investigation concluded that Ellan NW Ltd deliberately worked to subvert and undermine the regulated insolvency process, and by doing so, frustrated the legitimate claims of creditors and the proper investigation of failed companies and the conduct of their directors.

Ellan NW Ltd was wound up on 7th October. All enquiries concerning the affairs of Ellan NW LTD should be made to the Official Receiver of the Public Interest Unit.

David Hope, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said “Ellan NW Ltd was clearly set up to take money from the directors of failing businesses and also prevent their creditors getting the money they were rightfully owed.

“This blatant circumnavigation of the legitimate insolvency process will not be tolerated by the Insolvency Service as it damages the economy, harms creditors and makes a mockery of those directors who abide by the law. It is quite right that this operation has now been shut down.”