123 Insolvency

While attending one of our networking events which are held throughout the UK, I happened to meet an individual who was promoting his business, we got chatting and it became apparent that the business was struggling for a number of reasons, I offered to arrange a free no obligation meeting and would bring along Tim Corfield a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner to see if we could help in anyway.

The meeting was arranged within the week, and the story that unfolded was………………..

A company that had traded for well over 50 years, started by the Grandfather then passed to his son who in turn passed it to the Grandson. The company generated income for the first two generations of the family.
The product that they were supplying was no longer in demand, as the market place has changed although the grandson had tried a number of ways to diversify none of the efforts proved to be successful.

The grandson realised that they could no longer carry on trading as the orders has died off and they still had debts to be paid. Initially the grandson thought about re-mortgaging his property to put some money into the company as order may pick up in several months. After our meeting with the grandson, it transpires that the orders had ceased some 6 months ago and the work in progress was left over from previous orders.

Creditors were several months in arrears, PAYE and Tax were due, and the overdraft with the bank was at its limit £ 20,000 which had a personal guarantee.

After looking at the personal guarantee it transpired it was still in his father’s name, he had retired from the business some ten years previously and did not have the funds available to discharge it immediately. The father was unaware of this until we informed his son who in turn would inform him.

After taking advice it was clear to the grandson that the company did not require further funds it was at the end of its life, and any monies he had from re-mortgaging would help toward his new business going forward. Secondly we had highlighted to the grandson his father’s guarantee the grandson could relay this message to his father at an appropriate time to minimise any distress this could cause his father, he then had time to think about how to handle this, prior to the bank contacting him for repayment.

The company was placed into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation with our assistance. The grandson did not need to re-mortgage due to being employed by a competitor(who had diversified some 10 years earlier) in a managerial role with a salary which enabled him to make an offer to the bank, which was accepted, to pay back his father’s guarantee over an agreed period of time.

Hello, and welcome to 123 Insolvency, my name is Janet Peacock and I am the Senior Business Relationship Manager for the company. I have been working in the insolvency world for 25 years plus.

Over that time I have assisted many companies and individuals with their financial problems.

When I meet with people initially it is vital to listen, by listening to what is being said I am able to ensure the advice and options provided are tailored to each unique set of circumstances.

If you need assistance with your financial affairs, please complete the online assessment form, without obligation and completely confidential so I can assist you.

The team and I will guide you through the process from the start to the finish, dealing with your creditors, removing the pressure so you can start to rebuild your life for you and the family.

I recently dealt with a company which had traded as electrical contractors for around 10 years. Trade had been very successful up to the last few years. There were two directors – one was an electrical engineer and the other dealt with the administration.

The company had been engaged on many contracts by well known, branded High Street customers (such as KFC) but this work, because of the recession had reduced significantly.

It had also become clear, now that income had declined that both directors could not be supported by the company. The company was losing around £10,000 per month.

The directors were aware that there were unpaid taxes and HMRC were pressing. Matters came to a head when these were calculated by the accountant to be around £40,000 – an amount that the company could not possibly pay without raising further funds personally – which they were seriously thinking about and had approached the bank.

HMRC threatened a winding up petition.

Our advice was to put the company into liquidation. This provided a natural break for the directors to go their separate ways. The liquidation also meant that the HMRC debt would not be paid and the directors would not be opening themselves up to any accusation of trading whilst insolvent or any other problems whereby they could find themselves outside of the law. The directors also did not take out further bank loans which would have inevitably been personally guaranteed.

The directors have now both formed new separate limited companies and gone into different trades. They have for each company significantly reduced overheads – including new trading premises, fewer staff and other cost saving measures which could not have been easily achieved without a winding up of the company. Both companies are trading profitably and winning new work and the directors remain the best of friends. I have told them I don’t want to see them again!

Welcome to 123insolvency.co.uk

I’m Tim Corfield Managing Director of Griffin & King. I’m an Insolvency Practitioner, a Chartered Accountant, Law Graduate and I spent the first 10 years in the profession advising people in business how to grow their companies and become more profitable.

Over the last 20 years I’ve developed these skills and now specialise in rescuing struggling companies and advising the directors of their best solutions.

I think often the most difficult step for a director is to pick up the telephone and talk to someone. I am always pleased to listen and I’m sure I can help. If you prefer, please complete the online assessment form, and either I or one of my colleagues will contact you and we’ll tailor a solution to your circumstances. Of course, any such initial assessment is free and confidential.

Please don’t delay. The sooner you make contact, the sooner my team and I can start to guide you through the process and take the pressure off your shoulders.