Ant Middleton BANNED as director of his own firm after £1m tax bill and SAS Who Dares Wins axing

ANT Middleton has been banned as a company director over unpaid taxes, with his company owing more than £1million.

The former elite soldier and host of SAS: Who Dares Wins on Channel 4 was the director of Sway and Starting Limited along with his wife Emilie Middleton, both 44.

The company, which was described as offering media representation services, was set up to manage income from his television and media work.

It comes after the pair were forced to sell their family home as the firm's debts built up and they faced bankruptcy.

Middleton purchased the sprawling five bed property inEssexback in 2019 for £1.16 million.

Ant often showed off the rural retreat on social media as he posted snaps of his five children, who he shares with wife Emilie.

It is described as an ‘exceptional residence’ and an ‘exquisite home’ – the floor plans detailing the property layout with Ant’s standalone gym.

‘HAD ENOUGH INCOME TO PAY TAX'

Sway and Starting failed to pay more than £1million in tax, and in the same period more than £4.5million was paid into the company's accounts, “indicating it had enough income to pay the tax it owed in full”, according to the Government's Insolvency Service.

A statement went on to say: “But both the directors failed to ensure the company paid more than £300,000 in VAT and over £800,000 in corporation tax between 2019 and 2022.

“This was despite more than £4.5 million being paid into the company’s accounts from 2020 to 2022.

“The pair had also taken out almost £3 million from the company in the form of a director’s loan account by the time the company went into liquidation in December 2022.

“Ant Middleton later agreed to repay £300,000 of the director’s loan as a full and final settlement with the liquidator.”

The Middletons have been banned as company directors for four years.

Dave Magrath, Director of Investigation and Enforcement Services at the Insolvency Service, said: “Companies not paying the tax they should deprives the government of the money it needs to pay for the country’s defence services, our NHS, schools and universities, and transport systems.

“Ant and Emilie Middleton had legal and financial duties as directors to ensure their company paid the corporation tax and VAT it owed. Instead, they were taking millions of pounds out of the company at that time.

“This disqualification should serve as a deterrent to other directors that if you do not pay your taxes while directing money elsewhere, you are at risk of being banned.”

Middleton formed the company in September 2019 and his wife became a director in May 2019.

The company, previously known as Middleton Global Limited, failed to pay any of the £869,351 in corporation tax it owed between September 2019 and March 2021.

Sway and Starting also only paid £267,443 in VAT out of a total of £651,961 it owed between March 2020 and September 2022, leaving £384,518 unpaid.

Insolvency Service analysis of the company’s bank accounts showed that £4,592,200 was paid into the company between April 2020 and November 2022.

By the time of the company’s liquidation, the pair also owed Sway and Starting at least £2,961,745 through their director’s loan account.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted disqualification undertakings from Ant and Emilie Middleton, and their bans started on Monday (March 24) and last Wednesday (March 19) respectively.

It prevents them from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.