Sir Clive Thompson and six of his co-directors face legal proceedings in the High Court brought by the Insolvency Service, after the 2006 collapse of Farepak, the Christmas hampers saving club.

The Insolvency Service claims their conduct has made them unfit to manage a company and seeks to disqualify them as directors from between two to 15 years. 120,000 low income customers lost around £37 million as a result of Farepak’s failure.

The trial is expected to last six weeks and seven former executives of Farepak and its parent company European Home Retail are contesting the allegations. The other six directors are Neil Gillis, Michael Johns, Paul Munn, Stevan Fowler, William Rollason and Nicholas Gilodi-Johnson.