A local developer of ‘luxury’ homes who is already in trouble with the courts, HMRC, the banks and a plethora of creditors has now been declared bankrupt.
Paul Stephens who runs the Truro-based developers Stephens & Stephens Group Ltd with his wife Helen, which recently went into liquidation, has been declared insolvent personally following a hearing at the county court in Truro last week.
It comes as he is due back in court for sentencing on a raft of criminal charges and has seen multiple companies go bust.
It is Paragon Business Finance plc – part of the same banking group which provided Mr Stephens and his business with a £16.6 million funding package in 2021 to build the One Pentire development at Fistral in Newquay – which filed the petition for bankruptcy against him.
It was filed on January 28, with the bankruptcy order coming into force on April 16. The decision is now official on The Gazette.
One Pentire went into administration last year.
The Government’s Individual Insolvency Register website also confirmed the bankruptcy status. It gives his name, address in Malpas, Truro, as well as details on the insolvency case heard on April 16.
It reads: “Case name: Paul Stephens – bankruptcy. Court: County Court of Truro. Order date: April 16, 2026. Status: currently bankrupt.”
The insolvency order also confirms that Mr Stephens’ personal bankruptcy will be discharged in 12 months’ time on April 16, 2027, after which he will be freed from any debts that were included in his bankruptcy. It won’t free him from debts not covered by the bankruptcy such as mortgage payments or court fines.
The insolvency practitioner appointed to deal with Paul Stephens’ bankruptcy may also realise assets such as properties or cars even after the bankruptcy status is lifted in a year’s time.
Bankruptcy is seen as one way for individuals to deal with debts they cannot pay.
According to Citizens Advice a bankruptcy order can be made for one of three reasons: you cannot pay what you owe and want to declare yourself bankrupt; your creditors apply to make you bankrupt because you owe them £5,000 or more; or an insolvency practitioner makes you bankrupt because you’ve broken the terms of an individual voluntary arrangement.
When you’re declared bankrupt, most types of creditor must stop taking any action against you to get you to pay what you owe. As a result, they mustn’t do anything to try to get money from you, such as sending you letters or authorising debt collectors to visit you, although they can still send you letters to tell you the balance of your account.
In addition they mustn’t start any new civil court action against you, unless they get express permission from the court to do so.
However creditors are allowed to carry on chasing you for payment of certain types of debts such as a mortgage or charging order on property, magistrates’ court fines, student loans or any payments a court has ordered you to make under a confiscation order.
According to Citizens Advice, when you are declared bankrupt your bank account may be frozen immediately. You may not be able to use it again and might find you have problems getting another bank account.
It also means you cannot borrow more than £500 without telling the lender you’re bankrupt, you cannot act as a director of a company without the court’s permission, you cannot create, manage or promote a limited company without the court’s permission and you cannot run a business without giving your name when you were made bankrupt to the people you do business with – as well as any business name you used.
People declared bankrupt also face the possibility that their home and possessions, if they are not essential and are worth a lot of money, might be sold off to pay their debts.
Mr Stephens’ recent bankruptcy comes as troubles with the courts and creditors have been mounting for him.
Mr Stephens and his business Park Lane Financial Management Limited, of which he is the sole director, pleaded guilty last month to five charges relating the illegal disposal of electric waste, household waste, construction waste and asbestos at his site between Truro and Newquay near Rejerrah. He is due to be sentenced at Truro Crown Court in the coming months.
Several of his businesses, all based in Truro and including most recently his holding company, Stephens & Stephens Group Limited, have also either gone in administration or into liquidation.
In November we revealed that the holding company is being targeted by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) after it filed a winding up petition to see Stephens & Stephens Group Ltd, which is based in Princes Street, Truro, declared insolvent.
That decision to liquidate the business was made official on The Gazette on March 18.
The demise of Stephens & Stephens Group Ltd made it the fourth company with Paul or Helen Stephens – or both – as directors to have gone bust or into administration in just over 12 months.
Stephens & Stephens Group, run by the husband and wife, has seen its Cliffedge 10 Newquay Limited business, the company responsible for building the Cliff Edge 2 development overlooking Tolcarne Beach in Newquay, taken over by administrators.
The block of apartments on Narrowcliff has been under construction for several months but all work has now stopped, a crane has been removed and access to the site has been locked up while administrators take over the site.
Cliffedge 10 Newquay Limited went into administration on January 26 when United Bank Trust Limited, the creditors, appointed Quantuma Advisory Limited to take over.
Quantuma had previously been appointed as administrators by another bank, Paragon Banking Group, of two other Stephens & Stephens developments, in Newquay and Newlyn.
No 1 Pentire Newquay Ltd, which is behind the One Pentire apartments development overlooking Fistral beach, went into administration in May 2025.
In August 2025, Arcady Heights Limited, the company behind the High Tide housing development for the five luxury homes in Newlyn, overlooking Mount’s Bay, followed suit.
We have asked Paul Stephens for a comment about the bankruptcy. Helen, his wife, emailed us back straightaway: “LEAVE US ALONE PLEASE! Many Thanks, Helen.”
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