Husband-and-wife directors banned after taking payments for singing waiters when company was insolvent
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-28)

The company continued to take deposits and full payments when it was insolvent

Frederick and Claire Reeves hired people who would burst into song at social events such as weddings

The husband-and-wife allowed their company, Solfan1 Limited, to trade when they knew it was in serious financial trouble and on the verge of liquidation

Couples continued to pay deposits or payments in full when Frederick and Claire Reeves knew there was no reasonable expectation the company could provide the services it offered

A husband-and-wife team who ran a business which provided surprise singing waiters at weddings have been banned as directors after taking payments from customers when the company was insolvent.

Frederick Reeves, 49, also known as Jamie Reeves, and his wife Claire Reeves, 41, ran Solfan1 Limited, which traded as The Best Singing Waiters.

The company provided performers who would blend in at weddings by pretending to be waiters before bursting into song at an agreed time.

However, the couple continued to take deposits, or payments in full, from 43 customers across the UK when they knew their company was unable to pay the debts it owed.

The couple, of Dickens Place, Wigan, have now been banned as company directors for eight years.

Solfan1 went into liquidation with liabilities of more than £700,000 and assets of just over £168,000.

Rob Clarke, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Couples were left heartbroken after finding out the singing waiters they had paid to perform at their weddings would not show up.

Several of the customers who lost out financially were even offered discounts by the company to make their payment in full at the time of the booking.

The serious misconduct that both Frederick and Claire Reeves displayed falls short of the standards we expect of company directors which is why they have both been disqualified until May 2033.

Solfan1 was incorporated in November 2015. Claire Reeves was appointed as director in April 2018.

Frederick Reeves was never officially listed as director of the company but did not dispute that he acted in the capacity of a director when accepting his disqualification following Insolvency Service investigations.

The company was in financial difficulties in early 2024, having been served a winding-up petition from HM Revenue and Customs for tax debts of more than £200,000 at the start of February.

Following discussions with a private insolvency practitioner, the couple agreed on 28 March that Solfan1 should be placed into liquidation.

However, from then until the company went into liquidation on 1 May 2024, they continued to take deposits and full payments from new customers.

Analysis by investigators revealed that an estimated 43 customers made payments totalling £43,590 to the company during that period.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted disqualification undertakings from Frederick and Claire Reeves, and their bans both started on Wednesday 28 May.

The undertakings prevent them from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Further information

Frederick Reeves, also known as Jamie Reeves, is of Dickens Place, Wigan. His date of birth is 29 August 1975

Claire Reeves is of the same address. Her date of birth is 12 October 1983

Solfan1 Limited (https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/xx-xxxx-xxxx) (company number xx-xxxx-xxxx)

Individuals subject to a disqualification order or undertaking are bound by a range of restrictions (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/corporate-insolvency-effect-of-a-disqualification-order)

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct. (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/insolvency-service)