It's been this way forever. Dodgy traders can hide behind limited company status by starting up new companies as they're not personally liable for the company debts. As the article infers, you can chase them, but the cost is highly likely to outweigh any recompense.
It might not have helped in this case, but never ever pay fully in advance for building work and if possible don't pay anything on top of a resonable deposit until the corresponding work is signed off (staged payments)