Renfrewshire Council has approved the write-off of almost £340,000 in unpaid council tax, business rates and other debts.
The decision was made at a meeting of the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board on Thursday 10th September 2026.
The total write-off is £339,122.66.
This includes £157,663.14 in council tax owed by 11 debtors and £156,976.36 in unpaid non-domestic rates from seven dissolved companies.
A further £7,675.82 relates to housing benefit overpayments. Another £16,807.34 is classed as other unpaid council debt.
The council tax write-offs include £94,722.24 covered by trust deeds, £23,537.69 owed by a dissolved company and £21,967.50 linked to sequestrations.
Another £17,385.71 was owed by a deceased person.
The unpaid business rates include £38,440.02 owed by Retail Flooring UK Limited and £34,830.38 owed by Renfrew Fine Dining Ltd, which operated The Punjab Times in Hairst Street, Renfrew.
Brantano UK Ltd owed £22,810.36 for its former store at Phoenix Retail Park in Paisley.
Daria-E-Noor Ltd owed £21,870.95 for premises in New Sneddon Street, Paisley.
Other business rate debts involved Online Media Branding Limited, NB9020 Limited and Paperpleasantries Limited.
Some of the council tax accounts included debts dating back to 2003/04.
Councillor Alison Ann-Dowling questioned whether all insolvency and tracing options had been explored. She also asked whether the council had resources available to restart recovery action if a debtor’s circumstances changed.
Officers said this could happen if new information became available, but such cases were rare. They said resources were better focused on recovering debts before they reached the write-off stage.
Councillor James MacLaren asked why protected trust deeds prevented the council from recovering almost £95,000 in unpaid council tax.
Officers explained that a protected trust deed is a formal insolvency arrangement. Once it is protected, the council cannot continue pursuing the debt and any unpaid balance at the end must be written off.
Councillor Chris Gilmour raised the Brantano debt and questioned why it had taken around ten years to come before the board.
He said: “The reason I am flagging this is that it took 10 years to come before the board for write-off. The company issued a note to creditors in 2016. The company was then referred to a slightly different name in 2017. It then issued a note to creditors again in 2017.”
Councillor Gilmour also asked officers to explain business “phoenixing”. He made clear that he was not alleging that Brantano had done this.
He said: “Although I am not implying that that is the case in this instance, could the officers enlighten members on what phoenixing is, for clarity? Often, this happens, so there needs to be an explanation as to what phoenixing is.
“I am not saying that this particular company did it, but I am just highlighting it.”
Mark Conaghan, the council’s Head of Corporate Governance, said the company number was more important than its trading name when identifying a business.
He said: “Companies can change their name, but the company number is effectively the ID of that company. If it is a different company number, it is not the same company.”
Explaining phoenixing, Mr Conaghan said: “When we talk about phoenixing, we really mean that the people who own a particular business wind that business up and then restart the business from the same premises. It is effectively the same people running it, and it is a mechanism for avoiding the debt.
“Unfortunately, legally, that is something that can happen, and it is very difficult to deal with that.”
Officers confirmed that the council submitted a claim during Brantano’s administration and received a dividend. However, the payment did not cover the full debt.
The council said extensive efforts had been made to locate the debtors and recover the outstanding money. The debts were recommended for write-off after recovery was no longer considered viable.
The write-offs will be covered by the council’s existing provision for bad debts.
The council will continue to monitor the accounts and may restart recovery action if a debtor’s circumstances change.