A members voluntary liquidation in the UK is a formal process to close a company and must only be entered into if solvent, i.e. there are sufficient funds to pay their debts including tax liabilities and any contractual obligations. So, why close the company? There are a number of reasons why directors of a solvent [...]
As a shareholder of a company, you can expect to receive annual dividends. These are a distribution to shareholders of the company’s profit, which are normally paid from the company’s retained earnings. However, as a shareholder you may receive what are known as liquidating dividends. But what are liquidating dividends and when would a company [...]
It’s hard enough coming to terms with the fact that, as a company, you are struggling with debts and have been classified as insolvent. Usually a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation (CVL) is the right option and if the company has assets it can sell, i.e. machinery, equipment or even premises, they can be sold to pay [...]
When a creditor lends money to a company, it is taking a risk. Whether the creditor is a bank or other lending institution, a credit card or mortgage provider, bond purchasers or utility companies, or an individual, director or shareholder, lending money is a risky course of action, particularly if the debtor defaults on payments. [...]
Being in a position where you’re unable to pay your company’s creditors is extremely stressful. In an attempt to avoid increasing the level of debt, many companies try to negotiate directly with their creditors and agree to an informal arrangement. If the debt is quite small and owed to one creditor, and the creditor is [...]
It’s a worrying time for creditors when a limited company goes bankrupt or enters an insolvency process. The biggest concern, particularly for the smaller unsecured creditors, is whether they will ever receive the outstanding debt owed to them. There is a predetermined order in which creditors are paid during the bankruptcy or insolvency process, according [...]
Last year there were 3,883 company insolvencies in Q1 alone and that figure doesn’t include those that went into administration or entered voluntary arrangements. In the UK, when a company goes bankrupt, which is called liquidation, it stops trading, is wound up and then taken off the register at Companies House. Insolvent limited companies go [...]
Despite the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, if you look at the monthly UK insolvency statistics, the number of companies that filed for bankruptcy or went into liquidation, administration or CVAs, has decreased year on year. For example, in July 2020 in England and Wales, there were a total of 955 company insolvencies which represented [...]
There are a variety of reasons why a director may want to close a solvent limited company. For example, retirement might initiate closure, or a merger with another company, a major company restructure or if the company is dormant. Whatever the reason, if the company is solvent, i.e. has sufficient funds to pay all of [...]
You have a great idea for a business and you register a company but it doesn’t quite go to plan. You want to close the business a short while later. There can be several reasons why business owners want to close a private limited company which can include the business not making the money expected, [...]
