The former Director General of the Institute of Directors has been disqualified as a company director for 11 years after abusing the government’s Covid Bounce Back Loan scheme.
Anna Daroy, 61, of Abbots Morton, Worcestershire, secured two maximum-value £50,000 loans for her management consultancy, Globepoint Associates Ltd, in May 2020 — despite businesses only being entitled to one.
The loans, totalling £100,000, were obtained within just five days during the pandemic. Investigators found Daroy failed to repay one of the loans even after realising the company had received double the amount allowed.
Globepoint Associates went into liquidation in March 2023, with both loans outstanding.
Daroy, who has enjoyed a 35-year career advising boards and executive teams in the public and private sectors, held senior roles at the Institute of Directors between 2018 and 2019, first as interim Chief Operating Officer and later as interim Director General.
She was also shortlisted for the Women’s Business Club “Businesswoman of the Year” award in 2024 and has served in leadership roles at The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Despite her career credentials, the Insolvency Service said she had “abused” the emergency loan programme.
Insolvency Service: “She should have known better”
Kevin Read, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said Daroy’s conduct fell far short of the standards expected of a senior business leader: “Anna Daroy abused the Bounce Back Loan Scheme by obtaining two loans when businesses were entitled to just one. When she realised her company had received double the amount, she should have repaid one of them.
Bounce Back Loans were designed to provide vital support to struggling businesses during the pandemic, not to be exploited by those who did not follow the rules.
As someone with such extensive senior business leadership experience, Daroy should have known better.”
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Daroy earlier this month. Her ban, which took effect on 10 September 2025, prevents her from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company until September 2036 without court permission.
The Insolvency Service stressed that director disqualifications are designed to protect the public from individuals who have shown themselves unfit to manage companies.
The Bounce Back Loan Scheme was launched in 2020 to provide small and medium-sized businesses with quick access to emergency funds of up to £50,000 to help them survive the pandemic. It has since been dogged by criticism over widespread misuse and abuse, with billions written off by the government as unrecoverable.
Daroy’s case is among the latest high-profile examples of enforcement action against directors found to have broken the terms of the scheme.
