Company bankruptcy is a term commonly used when referring to a company becoming insolvent. A bankrupt company means that it has insufficient cash to pay its bills, or the value of its assets is less than its total liabilities. In the UK, the term bankruptcy is only applicable to individuals, including sole traders and members of partnerships. 

How do I know if my company is insolvent? 

Defined by section 123 of The Insolvency Act 1986, there are two ways of determining if your company is insolvent and bankrupt: 

• Cash flow insolvency 
  When a company is unable to pay its debts as they fall due. 
• Balance sheet insolvency 
  The liabilities on the balance sheet outweigh the assets. 

Liabilities resulting from legal action, including County Court Judgements (CCJs), that remain unpaid are another indication of insolvency. 

How we can help you close your bankrupt company? 

If your company is struggling financially and you want to close it, we can help by carrying out the formal liquidation procedures below to close your insolvent company.  

• Close your company down via a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation (CVL)
  A CVL is a liquidation procedure for companies that are insolvent. The process will formally close and liquidate your company, ceasing its trading operations, realising any assets and removing the threat of creditor legal action. If your company has employees, they can claim for redundancy and other statutory entitlements through the government’s Redundancy Payment Service (RPS). The process is final and irreversible. Once completed your company’s unsecured debt will be written off and the company is dissolved, allowing you, the director to move on.
  Find out more about Creditors Voluntary Liquidation
• Close your company down and start again via a pre-pack liquidation
  A Pre-Pack liquidation is a type of CVL where the sale of your company’s assets is arranged before liquidation, allowing business operations to continue seamlessly under the purchasing company. The company name may be reused, and employees can transfer under TUPE. Contracts and essential agreements can also be included as part of a sale, ensuring minimal disruption to your business operations. This process eliminates the unsecured debts of your previous company, providing a fresh start free from previous unsecured liabilities.
  Find out more about Pre-pack Liquidation

How we can help rescue your bankrupt company? 

If your company is insolvent but the business still has the potential to repay its debts, we can carry out the below formal processes to help restructure your company or establish a payment plan. 

• Repay your company debts in a payment plan via a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) 
  A CVA is a payment plan between a company and its creditors that allows you to restructure your company’s unsecured debts, while continuing to trade, by making affordable monthly payments over a fixed period. We start by assessing your company’s financial position, determining a realistic repayment amount. These terms are then proposed to your creditors and if approved, your company enters the repayment plan. When in place, all interest and charges are dropped and creditors in the arrangement cannot take further legal action. The process lasts for up to 5 years and on successful completion, any remaining unsecured debt in the arrangement is written off.
  Find out more about Company Voluntary Arrangements
• Restructure your company through administration  
  Administration is an insolvency procedure for companies that are insolvent. Entering the procedure, your company will be in a temporary state of protection by a moratorium, that halts creditor action, including legal proceedings, giving your company the breathing space to continue trading. We will act as administrator and our primary purpose is to rescue your company as a going concern, attempting to restructure and turn it into a leaner more profitable organisation. If rescuing the company isn’t a viable option we will also look at the most appropriate exit strategies from administration, whether that be a potential sale of the business, assets, the whole company, or transitioning to an alternative insolvency procedure.
  Find out more about Administration

Personal bankruptcy

Personal bankruptcy is a process for individuals who owe at least £5,000 and cannot afford to repay their creditors. Bankruptcy offers no protection to personal assets, meaning assets such as a house or a car could be sold in order to repay creditors.  

How to get in touch with us: The next steps 

1. Speak with our initial advisers 
   Make contact with our team, via phone, filling in a form, or online chat. We will assess your circumstances and, if suitable, arrange a free consultation with a consultant to discuss your company’s situation.  
2. Initial assessment 
   During the consultation, we will advise if an insolvency procedure is the most appropriate route forward or whether alternative solutions better suit your company’s problems 
3. Formally engage with Wilson Field 
   If there is an appropriate insolvency solution, we will confirm the necessary steps to start the procedure and will issue you with the relevant documentation for you to formally engage us.  

In summary

In the UK, bankruptcy is only applicable to individuals. Company bankruptcy is a term referring to a company which is insolvent. If your company is insolvent, there are various insolvency procedures which your company can enter, whether you want to try and rescue the company, or formally close and liquidate it. 
  

Case Studies

Oldham Precision

Kelly Burton • Construction & Engineering • Administration

Machining engineers Oldham Precision has been bought out of administration saving all 12 jobs.

The company’s principal activity was the sub-contracting manufacture of large volume batch precision machined components for clients across a wide range of industries including aerospace, paper converting, printing, coatings, electronics and valve construction.

Administrators Kelly Burton and Lisa Hogg from Sheffield business turnaround experts Wilson Field were appointed joint administrators on 17 January after the company suffered cash flow problems.

Originally established in 1982, the company, based at Red Rose Business Park on Shaw Rd in Royton, offered subcontract engineering including CNC milling, grinding and turning.

After advice from Wilson Field, the business was sold to the existing management team as a going concern saving all 12 employees’ jobs.

Kelly Burton, director in the Leeds office at Wilson Field said;

“Following discussions with the director, the business was sold as a going concern, safeguarding all 12 employees’ jobs and offering a better return for the company’s creditors than alternative options.

“The new company will be under the same management offering the same standards of service to its customers.”

National Videogame Arcade

Kelly Burton • Leisure & Hospitality • Administration

Image from GameCity.org [http://gamecity.org/]

The National Videogame Arcade is a unique national centre which is dedicated to history and development of computer and video games. The museum itself contains many rare and original videogames and consoles as well as a Toast Bar which serves a wide array of toast-based snacks.

Over its time, it has also been involved in working in collaboration with Arts Council England, Times Educational Supplement, Wellcome Trust and the British Library to name a few. These projects and collaborations focused on developing the role of videogames in culture and education.

Home of the acclaimed GameCity festival, The National Videogame Arcade in Nottingham, sadly fell into cash flow difficulties earlier this year despite an increase in its footfall. An eleventh hour investment by a director-led consortium, led by director Iain Simons, saved all 40 jobs at the increasingly popular tourist attraction and museum.

The cash flow difficulties led to the destination being taken into administration, Wilson Field’s Andy Wood and Lisa Hogg were appointed as joint administrators on 19^th August 2016.

Andy Wood, an insolvency practitioner at business turnaround and insolvency specialist, Wilson Field, said;

“The investment story behind the consortium is based on the passion that Iain Simons and his staff have for the GameCity project.

“We were appointed as administrators after the company fell into financial difficulties, despite growing in popularity. The consortium of investors could clearly see the potential to turn the business around and with support from the staff, GameCity has a new future.”

Director of GameCity and investment consortium leader, Iain Simons, was very happy with securing the last minute investment and the service he received from ourselves; “The NVA is like no other facility within the UK and is rapidly growing in popularity. It was devastating to us when we realised that the business was in financial difficulty, but we knew it could be overcome.

“I have to give all credit to the staff here who volunteered to work without pay when we announced that the business was in trouble and this undoubtedly allowed us the time to pull together a consortium of investors to give the facility a bright new future and secure those jobs.

“GameCity is rapidly picking up pace and the Toast Bar, National Videogame Arcade and our collaborations with new partners in the UK and beyond are proving to be just as popular as we’d hoped.”

For more information on GameCity visit http://gamecity.org and for further information about our insolvency procedures, call us on 0800 901 2475.

Catering Butchers

Kelly Burton • Leisure & Hospitality • Administration

A previously successful, family-owned and managed catering butchers saw its turnover eradicated by the Covid 19 outbreak.

Following a review of all the options with the team at Wilson Field, the directors decided to appoint WF as Administrators.

Kelly Burton, director and insolvency practitioner at Wilson Field added:

“Like many over the pandemic, unfortunately there were some difficulties encountered as the business struggled to keep up its strong sales. However, we are continuing ro release the assets for the benefit of the creditors.”

Due to a lack of funding, the business unfortunately ceased to trade, however, the Administrators have managed to secure the debtor ledger and a sale of the remaining tangible assets, for the benefit of creditors.

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