Founder of Liverpool's Signature empire banned as director after investors lost £4.8 million through connected company
Director disqualified until 2031
- Lawrence Kenwright allowed Signature Works Gold Limited, of which he was the sole registered director, to distribute marketing material containing false and misleading information
- Investors lost more than £4.8 million
- Kenwright has been banned from acting as a company director for five years
The founder of Liverpool-based Signature Group has been banned as a company director after investors lost more than £4.8 million through a linked company that distributed false and misleading marketing material.
Businessman Lawrence Kenwright has been the director of almost 100 companies, including more than 60 under the Signature brand alone, with the group behind the creation of the Shankly and Dixie Dean hotels in Liverpool.
He was also director of Signature Works Gold Limited, which sold desk space to investors in three Liverpool city centre properties.
The 60-year-old allowed Signature Works Gold Limited to distribute promotional material containing false and misleading information, causing significant losses for investors.
The Insolvency Service found that Kenwright had “failed to ensure adequate stewardship and corporate governance” of the company he directed.
Kenwright, now of Sankey Road, Maghull, signed a disqualification undertaking just days before he was due to appear for trial following investigations by the Insolvency Service.
The undertaking – a legally binding agreement where directors do not dispute certain matters of unfitness alleged by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade – means he is banned from acting as a company director for the next five years.
Signature Works Gold Limited was wound up in the public interest in December 2022 after Insolvency Service investigations into the company uncovered concerns about investors being misled.
Kevin Read, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Lawrence Kenwright’s failures as a company director had serious consequences for investors, who suffered losses of more than £4.8 million as a result of false and misleading marketing material.
While Kenwright is not accused of direct fraud, his conduct nevertheless falls well below the standards we expect of company directors.
Directors have a responsibility to ensure investment information issued in their company’s name is accurate and can be relied upon.
The Insolvency Service will continue to take action against directors who fail in those responsibilities, helping to maintain confidence in the UK’s business environment.
Signature Works Gold Limited was incorporated in January 2017 and sold desk space to investors in The Bling Bling Building on Hanover Street, Arthouse Hotel on Seel Street, and 60 Old Hall Street.
The company would rent out the working space to members of the public with the rental income intended to fund returns to investors. However, investor returns stopped being paid after September 2019.
The marketing material stated or implied that investors would gain a legal interest, registered at Land Registry, in the three properties they acquired desk space in. In reality, investigators found that Signature Works Gold Limited did not own any registered freehold or leasehold interest in any of the three properties.
The buildings were instead owned by separate companies (Signature Hanover Street Limited; Signature Living Arthouse Square Ltd; Signature Living Residential Ltd) of which Kenwright was the sole shareholder.
Although the marketing material referred to Signature Works Gold Limited being part of the wider group of Signature companies, it was not part of the legal group structure. Kenwright was the connection across the companies, being the main or only shareholder, thus giving them common ownership.
When Signature Works Gold Limited was wound up, it had assets of less than £100,000 and liabilities of £4,848,654, reflecting the scale of the losses suffered by investors.
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Kenwright, and his ban started on Tuesday 18 August.
It prevents him from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
Further information
- Lawrence Kenwright is of Sankey Road, Maghull. His date of birth is 16 November 1965
- Signature Works Gold Limited (company number 10551109)
- Directors can find information about their obligations and responsibilities at the Insolvency Service’s Director Information Hub
- Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.