I don't know about the UK or the US, but in France, Bankruptcy don't always mean paying your company's debts.
Small business often start as "limited responsability companies", where you can only loss your capital.
This is because every party involved who wants money from that bankrupt company stands to gain if they can show that there was malpractice going on. If this can be shown, the shareholders (if they have more than 4.9%) become liable personally and then there is something to get (while usually, after the taxes visited the carcass, there is nothing left). This is why sometimes it takes a long time to resolve.