Carl Hughes, Claudia Daxelhoffer and Bruno Schultz all share the indignity of having been struck off as UK company directors in recent months. Many more erring directors should suffer the same fate, according to R3, the body for insolvency practitioners, to improve standards of behaviour in business.

R3’s stance reflects frustration among company undertakers – sorry, “corporate recovery specialists” – who have to tell the authorities if they believe directors of defunct businesses have misbehaved. Peter Sargent, the veteran insolvency practitioner who heads R3, says that members reported 4,700 directors last year. But only 1,200 were banned from acting as directors for periods of up to 15 years.