Boss of holiday park near Hastings banned from being director after investors lose £19m

From today (Tuesday, September 22) Simon Moir, 58, has been disqualified from acting as a director for 14 years, one year below the maximum term, the Insolvency Service said.

This means will be banned from acting as a director or directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

The Insolvency Service said Walsham Chalet Park Limited was incorporated in 1966 and operated eight holiday parks located across several sites in England, including Westfield, near Hastings, Bury St Edmunds, Thorpe-le-Soken, North Walsham, Ely, Honiton, Newbury and Whitstone.

Trading as the Dream Lodge Group, Walsham Chalet Park also ran an investment scheme where people could invest in part or an entire holiday chalet and would receive returns based on the holiday rental income.

Simon Moir, from Harlow, Essex, was appointed as a director of the company in 1998.

But the company eventually began to struggle and by January 2019, Walsham Chalet Park entered into administration before being placed into creditors voluntary liquidation in the following September, owing just over £23 million to creditors, the Insolvency Service said.

The holiday parks company was brought to the attention of the Insolvency Service by Walsham Chalet Park’s liquidators, Deloitte, before investigators established that £19.4m was owed to investors after the company’s insolvency.

A total of £14.2m of investments made was owed to 161 people who had paid Walsham Chalet Park to invest in holiday chalets that were never built.

The Insolvency Service said further enquiries established that 30 investors had paid the holiday park company £1.8m to invest in chalets at Coleford Park, Whitecliff, Gloucestershire.

The Insolvency Service said Simon Moir should have been aware the company did not own this site.

It added that he instructed Walsham Chalet Park’s employees to send false accounts to the company’s bank in order to secure the bank’s continued support.

On September 1, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Simon Moir after he did not dispute that he caused the company to trade with a lack of commercial probity.

Sue Macleod, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: “Simon Moir presided over a scheme where people thought they were investing in holiday chalets with the promise of generous financial returns.

“But it was nothing more than a ruse and Simon Moir’s actions have caused substantial losses to investors, many of whom have lost their life savings.

“Thanks to Deloitte’s assistance with our investigations, Simon Moir has been banned for 14 years.

“This is a significant period of disqualification, just a year under the maximum term, and will ensure no more investors will be victim to his schemes.”

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