The Insolvency Service has disqualified Lawrence Kenwright, founder of the once-flamboyant Signature Living empire, from acting as a company director for nine years, following the collapse of a group that left creditors and small-scale property investors nursing losses reportedly running into tens of millions of pounds. The Liverpool-based operation, which built its reputation on themed hotels such as the Shankly and the George, expanded aggressively into off-plan residential and hotel-room investment schemes across the North West, promising investors fixed annual returns of 8-10% on units that in many cases were never completed or handed over. The ban, one of the longest handed down in a property-sector case in recent years, formally closes a chapter that has become a cautionary tale for the entire alternative property investment market.