A bankrupt former hairdresser from Sheffield is subject to 12 years of stringent sanctions after the Official Receiver found she abused the Covid Bounce Back Loan scheme to claim almost £100,000 to which she wasn’t entitled.
Hannah Lucy Walker, 31, of Pollard Crescent in Sheffield, was originally a hairdresser, but when Covid lockdowns were in operation during May 2020, she began a baking business, trading as Something Sweet.
And on 25 June 2020, she applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for Something Sweet – which only ever traded for two weeks – declaring its turnover was £256,000.
The next day she applied to a different bank for another Bounce Back Loan of £48,000 for the baking business. This time she claimed the business had a turnover of £230,000.
Walker was made bankrupt in March 2024, with outstanding debts of around £109,000 including the full amount of both loans.
The Official Receiver, whose duty includes investigating the cause of a bankruptcy, found that Something Sweet had not been eligible to apply for a loan.
Samantha Crook, Deputy Official Receiver at the Insolvency Service, said: “Hannah Walker blatantly abused a scheme designed to support existing businesses during one of the toughest times the country faced.
“She breached the rules of the scheme by taking out not one, but two loans, for a business that was not even eligible for a loan.
“These restrictions will curtail her business activities for a long time to help protect the public from further financial harm.”
Under the rules of the Bounce Back Loan scheme, businesses had to have been trading by 1 March 2020 in order to apply for a loan.
The rules allowed applications for a single loan per business of up to 25% of its 2019 turnover – or of an estimated turnover if the business had started during the previous financial year – up to a maximum of £50,000. Any money claimed was to be used for the economic support of the business.
Walker’s baking business was not entitled to any money through the scheme. She did not apply for a loan to support her hairdressing business.
Walker signed a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking in which she did not dispute that she had provided false information on two Bounce Back Loan applications to receive a total of £98,000 to which she was not entitled.
She must abide by the restrictions, which extend the terms of her original bankruptcy – usually a period of 12 months – for a further 12 years.
They prevent Walker from acting as a company director without permission from the court and from borrowing more than £500 without declaring that she is subject to the sanctions. She is also restricted from holding certain roles in public organisations while subject to the measures.
