A Scottish businessman who stripped almost £3 million in assets from his clinical waste firm has been banned as a company director for nine years.
Gary Pettigrew, 59, began moving equipment out of Healthcare Environmental Services Limited just days before it lost 17 NHS England contracts in October 2018.
Healthcare Environmental Services entered liquidation six months later with debts of more than £15 million after losing significant NHS contracts.
However, Pettigrew, who was the company director, transferred millions in assets to connected companies to try and put them beyond the reach of creditors.
In his judgement, Lord Lake said Pettigrew was in ‘flagrant’ breach of his duties as a director.
The ban prevents Pettigrew from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company without the permission of the court.
Pettigrew was also fined £1,000 and costs in June 2025 after being found in contempt of court for taking pictures of witnesses, in breach of a prohibition by the court.
He was found to have disseminated and misused the photographs by republishing offensive comments and posts of the photographs on social media.
An Insolvency Service spokesperson said Pettigrew’s actions put assets beyond the reach of creditors at a time when his company was facing severely restricted trading, which ultimately caused it to be liquidated.
“We hope this disqualification sends a clear warning to other directors who are tempted to put their own interests first when facing insolvency that we will protect the public and creditors by robustly tackling financial misconduct,” the spokesperson continued.
In September 2018, Pettigrew attended a meeting with NHS and government officials to discuss allegations of stockpiling waste in breach of Environment Agency permits.
Across a two-day period the next month, Healthcare Environmental Services went on to lose significant NHS contracts.
Between October and December 2018, Pettigrew transferred assets worth £2,979,383 from Healthcare Environmental Services Limited to HEG Sustainable Solutions Limited and Starryshaw Consultants Ltd, two connected companies of which, at that time, he and his wife were the only directors.
The transfers were made without the consent of the company’s bank, which held a charge over all the firm’s assets, and despite advice from its accountants and solicitors that consent was required.
An attempt to sell the company collapsed in December 2018, and trading ceased with all staff being made redundant.
In 2021, a director disqualification undertaking for a period of 3.5 years was accepted from Pettigrew’s co-director, Alison Pettigrew, for allowing the asset transfers to take place.
Criminal proceedings brought against Pettigrew by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland over allegations of storing medical waste illegally were dropped in October 2023.
