The man who ran the franchising company behind the Wok & Go noodle takeaway chain has received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for managing a business while banned as a director. Chester Crown Court also gave Desmond Pheby a new 10-year disqualification, the Insolvency Service announced on 8 October 2026.
Wok & Go Franchise UK Limited (company number 08357653 at Companies House) sold franchises for the Wok & Go chain, one of the noodle and street food formats that compete with the fast food brands recruiting UK operators.
Pheby, 57, from Higher Kinnerton in Flintshire, Wales, had been under a seven-year director ban since July 2019. That ban followed the liquidation of T.P.F Limited, another food company he ran, in September 2017. He was sentenced on 5 October 2026.
What the court heard
Pheby pleaded guilty in August 2025 to acting in the management of Wok & Go while disqualified. In August 2026 a jury at Chester Crown Court unanimously convicted him of using a false instrument. The document in question was a false employment record, produced in civil proceedings brought by a franchisee who was seeking damages. It described him as a “Franchise Relationship Manager” paid £12 an hour. The Insolvency Service said the claim concerned a number of contractual disputes, including his role within the company.
Pheby received 12 months in prison suspended for two years, 200 hours of unpaid work and a fresh 10-year disqualification running to 2036. His wife, Sharon Pheby, 51, admitted aiding and abetting the breach from 1 August 2020. She received a 12-month community order, 100 hours of unpaid work and a five-year director ban.
The original ban and the Insolvency Service’s response
The 2019 disqualification related to failures over accounting records at T.P.F Limited. The Insolvency Service said the missing records left investigators unable to account for more than £200,000 of current assets or almost £800,000 of expenditure.
David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Desmond Pheby knew he was banned from running companies but continued managing his business regardless.” He added that disqualifications protect the public and the business community, and that those who ignore them risk prosecution and a longer ban. Confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are continuing.
The bans in numbers
Desmond Pheby: seven years from July 2019, then a further 10 years to 2036. Sharon Pheby: five years. The Insolvency Service did not publish the number of Wok & Go franchisees or sites in its release.
What the case does and does not show
The Insolvency Service release describes conduct by a franchisor’s director. It does not state how many franchisees or sites the Wok & Go network has, whether the franchisor is still trading, or how the franchisee’s civil claim ended, and no UK register records franchised outlets or agreements either, unlike the terms published by brands recruiting operators in the UK.
Franchising in the UK is governed by general contract law, with no franchise-specific statute, so a franchisor’s directors are subject to the same disqualification regime as any other company director.Local title Deeside.com reported the same court outcome on 8 October 2026, describing Pheby as a Wok & Go franchise boss from Higher Kinnerton.
