A BUSINESSMAN from Stroud has been banned from being a company director after an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Jeremy Grant Norman, former director of Stroud-based Norman Machine Tools Ltd, was banned following news that he issued two sales invoices for the same machinery – causing a finance company to lose £38, 434.

The investigation found that Mr Norman had misled a finance company into thinking Norman Machine Tools Ltd owned equipment that it had previously sold to a third party company.

Susan MacLeod, official receiver at the Insolvency Service, said: “Directors have a duty to play by the rules and ensure they are honest in their dealings with customers thus providing a level playing field for businesses; something Mr Norman failed to do.

“Directors who make representations knowing they are incorrect should not expect to do so without there being repercussions.”

Mr Norman has given an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills that he will not act as a director of a limited company until 2018.