Nine former board members of failed Christmas hamper business Farepak, including Blacks Leisure chief executive Neil Gillis, are facing disqualification from acting as directors.

Gillis, who announced his intention to resign from Blacks last week, was non-executive director at Farepak’s parent company European Home Retail which fell into administration in four years ago.

The hamper business gave a series of profit warnings in 2006 before calling in administrators BDO in October. More than 113,000 Farepak customers lost an estimated £40m.

Others potentially facing disqualification include former Sainsbury’s director and ex-CBI president Sir Clive Thompson.

The Insolvency Service said: “The application was made in the public interest on the grounds that the conduct of each director in relation to the relevant company or companies makes him or her unfit to be concerned in the management of a company.”

If the application is successful the directors could be disqualified for up to 15 years.

Gillis is believed to have known about the imminent public statement before handing in his resignation last week.

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