The company failed.
The director came back
under a new name.

What the law says

Section 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986 restricts the reuse of a company name. A director of a company that went into insolvent liquidation cannot, for five years, be a director of another company using the same or a similar name, unless the court gives permission or one of the statutory exceptions applies. Breach is a criminal offence and can make the director personally liable for the new company's debts.

But phoenix activity is not only about names. A director who starts a new company under a completely different name, with the same business and the same people, is not breaking section 216. That is why the public record matters more than the name alone.

What the pattern looks like on the record

The signals are all in data that Companies House and The Gazette publish:

• Serial appointments. A director's history shows several dissolved or liquidated companies, each living only a few years.
• New company, old address. The new company's registered office matches a failed company's.
• Same sector, same people. Similar SIC codes and overlapping directors or shareholders.
• Short filing history. A new company that quickly shows overdue filings or thin accounts.
• Charges moving across. Lenders registering security on the new company shortly after incorporation.

What to check before you extend credit

Look at the directors, not just the company. On a Black Flag Alert profile the directors' section lists current and resigned appointments, so you can see whether the people behind the company have a trail of failed entities. Combine that with the company's own CCJ record, filing behaviour and R-Score.