The company and its directors have been disqualified for 30 months because of shadow director
Gretna-based Kibex, Director Paula Baillie and Shadow Director Kieran White were disqualified from holding or obtaining a PSV O-Licence for 30 months after the company’s two-vehicle restricted licence was revoked by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Joan Aitken.
The company’s licence was granted in 2013 subject to a number of undertakings and on the understanding that Ms Baillie was the sole director and that she and not Mr White was in control of the business.
In the event of Mr White becoming a shareholder or director, the licence must be surrendered unless the TC had allowed Mr White to be a shareholder or director.
Companies House records showed Ms Baillie as sole director and sole shareholder. Ms Baillie and Mr White are life partners. Mr White was subject to a Company Director Disqualification Order from Perth Sheriff Court for four years from 1 December 2010.
On 14 September 2015, the company applied for a national licence to operate five vehicles from their hotel in Gretna Green. The company was called to an Edinburgh Public Inquiry (PI) because of an adverse report from DVSA.
On 9 May 2016, nominated Transport Manager (TM) Stuart Castle withdrew from the application. John D Edwards of Tyldesley, Manchester was nominated as TM, with an indication he would work 10 hours on Fridays and Saturdays. He was already a TM on a licence based at Hindley Green, Wigan.
On 26 July 2016, Ms Baillie wrote to withdraw the application. The TC declined the request to withdraw the application and the call to PI. In her decision following a two-day PI, the TC said that Mr White played a pivotal and pervasive role in Kibex. There was no area in which he was not involved. Kibex was a joint enterprise business of Kieran White and Paula Baillie. He was a public face of Kibex.
Mr White knew that Kibex did not have licence authority for a 49-seater, and that Polar Express or Carlisle United journeys could not be undertaken lawfully by either him or Kibex.
A licence disc came into Mr White’s possession when he took delivery of the 49-seater vehicle purchased from Photoflash of Carluke. Mr White retained the Photoflash disc when he had no lawful authority to have it in his possession. Mr White exacerbated matters by refusing or delaying to return the disc to Photoflash. He was asked to return it on repeated occasions.
Mr White, who she had sought to keep away from control over a business with a PSV O-Licence, had operated beyond the terms of a restricted licence. She considered that Kieran White had acted as a shadow director of Kibex with Paula Baillie as director. He had been a controlling presence in Kibex along with Paula Baillie. Kibex, through the direct actions of Kieran White, had operated unlawfully through the use of the 49-seater and a disc issued to another operator and without that operator’s consent to that use.
