Director Disqualification Hearing: Shisha Time Vape Ltd (CR-2025-008294)

A director disqualification matter concerning Shisha Time London Ltd and Shisha Time Vape Ltd has been listed for a hearing at the Rolls Building in London. The case, filed under reference CR-2025-008294, is scheduled for 10:30am on 7 July 2026 in hearing room 7 of the Insolvency and Companies Court.

These proceedings are brought under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA 1986). The court will evaluate whether the conduct of the individuals responsible for managing these entities renders them unfit to be involved in the management of a limited company.

Case and Entity Summary

Shisha Time Vape Ltd (Company Number 11042613) was incorporated on 1 November 2017. Registered under SIC code 47789, the company operated within the retail sector, specifically the sale of new goods in specialised stores. The company's registered office is situated at Lawrence House, 5 St. Andrews Hill, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 1AD.

According to the Companies House register, the business is currently in liquidation following procedures outlined in the Insolvency Act 1986.

| Case Detail | Information |

|---|---|

| Court Reference | CR-2025-008294 |

| Primary Entities | Shisha Time Vape Ltd (11042613), Shisha Time London Ltd |

| Hearing Date | 7 July 2026, 10:30am |

| Venue | Room 7, Rolls Building, London |

| Jurisdiction | Insolvency and Companies Court |

| Statutory Framework | Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 |

Expert Analysis: The Disqualification Threshold

The Insolvency Service typically initiates disqualification proceedings following a conduct report from a liquidator or administrator. Under section 6 of the CDDA 1986, the court has a mandatory duty to make a disqualification order if it is satisfied that a person's conduct as a director of an insolvent company makes them unfit to be concerned in the management of a company.

When multiple related companies enter insolvency, as suggested by the joint listing of Shisha Time London Ltd and Shisha Time Vape Ltd, the court often reviews the conduct of directors across the entire group. This cross-entity scrutiny helps the court determine if there was an isolated failure or a systemic pattern of unfit behaviour.

Financial investigators and insolvency practitioners reviewing such cases will immediately examine the security profile of the insolvent business. Conducting a company charge check reveals any fixed or floating charges registered against the company's assets before liquidation. The timing of these charges, particularly if granted to connected parties shortly before insolvency, is a common trigger for further investigation.

Identifying Unfit Conduct: A Practitioner's Checklist

When preparing a conduct report, liquidators evaluate specific statutory breaches and fiduciary failures. The court will examine these factors during the hearing:

1. Statutory Records: Failure to maintain or preserve adequate accounting records under section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.

2. Crown Debt: Deliberate non-payment or disproportionate treatment of HMRC liabilities compared to other creditors.

3. Insolvent Trading: Continuing to trade and incur liabilities when the directors knew, or ought to have concluded, that there was no reasonable prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation.

4. Misapplication of Assets: Transferring company assets, stock, or funds at an undervalue, particularly to connected parties or successor companies.

5. Support Scheme Abuse: Misuse of government financial assistance, such as Bounce Back Loans, for personal benefit rather than company survival.

Worked Example: Cross-Entity Retail Insolvency

To understand how these proceedings unfold in the retail sector, consider an anonymised composite scenario. A retail group operates two connected entities: Entity A (a holding company managing leases) and Entity B (the trading arm holding stock).

Entity B experiences severe cash flow difficulties and ceases paying HMRC, accumulating £150,000 in VAT and PAYE arrears. Shortly before Entity B enters creditors' voluntary liquidation, the directors transfer its remaining high-value stock to Entity A for a nominal sum, leaving Entity B's creditors with nothing.

The liquidator identifies this transaction at an undervalue and files an adverse conduct report. The Insolvency Service subsequently brings disqualification proceedings against the directors, citing the deliberate dissipation of assets and the preferential treatment of connected parties over Crown debt. The court ultimately bans the directors for eight years, preventing them from managing any UK company, including Entity A.

Traditional Due Diligence vs Corp Intel

Tracking the fallout of corporate insolvency traditionally requires significant manual effort. Professionals often rely on fragmented searches across the Companies House register, weekly reviews of The Gazette, and manual checks of daily court cause lists to monitor the progress of disqualification hearings or winding up petitions.

Corp Intel consolidates this workflow. Rather than manually checking multiple registers, practitioners can execute a comprehensive winding up petition search to identify previous creditor actions across a corporate group. By setting up free company monitoring, credit controllers and legal professionals receive automated alerts the moment a company enters liquidation, registers a new charge, or has a director struck off, ensuring critical risk indicators are never missed.

Potential Outcomes and Penalties

If the court finds the directors of Shisha Time Vape Ltd unfit, it must issue a disqualification order for a period between two and fifteen years. A disqualified individual is strictly prohibited from:

Breaching a disqualification order is a criminal offence. Under section 15 of the CDDA 1986, a person who acts in contravention of a disqualification order can be held personally liable for the relevant debts of the company incurred during that period. The outcome of the July 2026 hearing will be recorded in The Gazette and the Companies House disqualified directors register.

***

Disclaimer: This article is based on the published court cause list. The listing of a hearing is not a finding of guilt or misconduct. The court will determine the facts at the scheduled hearing. If you believe any information is inaccurate, please contact contact@corp-intel.co.uk.

Next Steps: For professionals needing to track connected entities, verify director histories, or monitor ongoing insolvency proceedings, explore the Corp Intel company search platform for comprehensive, real-time corporate intelligence.

View the company profile on CorpIntel