Surface Transforms PLC director files prohibited-name notice to trade on via CCST Limited

Surface Transforms PLC entered administration on 22 April 2026, and within a month the acquisition of certain business and assets had completed. Dr Kevin Johnson, a director of the carbon-ceramic brake disc maker since 2005, has now filed a Section 216 prohibited-name notice under Rule 22.4 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 to continue operating the acquired business under the Surface Transforms name.

Section 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986 prohibits a director of a company that has entered insolvent liquidation from involvement in another company using the same or a similar name for five years, unless the court gives permission or a statutory exception applies. The Rule 22.4 notice is one such exception. By filing it, a director can lawfully continue to act in connection with a business carrying on under a prohibited name without committing a criminal offence or becoming personally liable for the new company's debts.

The acquisition and the new vehicle

The acquisition of certain business and assets of Surface Transforms PLC (in Administration) concluded on 22 May 2026, one month after the administration appointment. Johnson has given notice that he is acting, and intends to continue to act, in connection with the carrying on of the whole or substantially the whole of that business through CCST Limited, trading as Surface Transforms. His address for the purposes of the notice is Image Business Park, Acornfield Road, Knowsley Industrial Park, Liverpool, England, L33 7UF.

Surface Transforms PLC was incorporated on 13 May 1999, originally under the name Avonpath Ltd, before adopting its current name on 11 August 1999. Its SIC codes cover the manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles and research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering. The company is a public limited company registered in England, with a registered address at Suite 3 Avery House, 69 North Street, Brighton, BN41 1DH.

Officers at the time of administration

At the date Surface Transforms PLC entered administration, the serving directors were Dr Kevin Johnson, who has held the role since 12 January 2005, and Steven Joseph Harrison, appointed on 19 September 2025. Richard Nathan Hattersley has been company secretary since 31 May 2023.

Ian Philip Cleminson, Matthew Gordon Robert Taylor and Paul Robert Marr each resigned as directors on 22 April 2026, the same date the company entered administration. Michael Cunningham previously held both the secretary and director roles, running from 10 September 2018 to 31 May 2023.

Secured charges

Four outstanding registered charges are recorded against Surface Transforms PLC at Companies House. Alliance Fund Managers Limited holds a charge created on 9 November 2021, which contains both a fixed charge and a floating charge covering all the property or undertaking of the company, along with a negative pledge. A floating charge is a form of security over assets that change from time to time, such as stock or cash; it crystallises on insolvency and ranks ahead of unsecured creditors.

LCR UDF Limited Partnership, acting by its general partner LCR UDF (GP) Limited, holds three further outstanding charges: one created on 8 December 2023, a second also created on 8 December 2023, and a third created on 24 January 2024.

The Gazette notice was published on 12 June 2026.