A DENTURES firm boss has been taken to task by a watchdog - amid a series of questionable financial transactions involving his collapsed company.

An investigation by the Insolvency Service into the demise of The Smile Centre (UK) Ltd has now resulted in Barrie Semp, 53, being disqualified as a company director for six years.

Mr Semp, of Bankhall Lane, Hale, near Altrincham, was on the board of the Whitefield-based outfit until administrators were brought in partway through 2018.

His name was erased from the practising register by the General Dental Council, over allegations of sub-standard treatment and poor record-keeping around the same time.

Administrators were also informed by Mr Semp, who first set up the company as the Whitefield Dental Laboratory in 1989, that he encountered a number of problems when he became involved with two franchise practices.

Two lengthy legal cases, concerning client complaints, had also cost the company, based in Bury New Road, an estimated £100,000 in legal costs, as his indemnity firm withdrew cover, administrators were told.

This all combined to push the company into administration, with the company said to owe £655,268 to various creditors.

Mr Semp and his wife Tamara claimed £180,000 debts between them.

The Insolvency Service inquiry questioned how £178,459 came to be transferred to Mr Semp from Smile and a related party from January 2017 to March 2018.

Investigators also found £86,204 had been deposited by Smile in Mr Semp's personal account over a similar timeframe.

Similar queries were raised as £110.277 had also been switched from a company account to a charge account held by Mr Semp.

The agency also challenged the accuracy of the £112,411 claim he had made in the administration, allegedly owed from a director's loan account. Further uncertainty surrounded whether all sales income had been accounted for, and tax and National Insurance payments were properly made.

But the service confirmed that as there were a lack of adequate accounting records, none of the issues could be clarified.

The company was finally dissolved in March last year by the administrators.