Business Advisory & Resources Hub
An information hub for business owners and directors. Containing free articles and advice on issues relevant to the current economic climate.
Resources for Business Owners & Directors
As an advisory firm, we assists clients to achieve their objectives, enhance value and attain the best possible results. We work with businesses through every stage of the lifecycle – enabling clients to gain control of challenges, supporting plans for change, and helping them to accelerate growth.
We work with clients when they are facing financial or operational difficulties and seeking turnaround support, restructuring advice, or guidance on insolvency options.
Some clients are looking to plan for growth and are exploring strategic expansion, merger and acquisition, or investment opportunities.
We have supported clients going through a crisis; where they need help in navigating unexpected disruptions, such as market volatility, supply chain issues or regulatory change.
When taking a next step in growing or diversifying their business, we have provided expert insight to support informed choices about their business direction, risk mitigation or stakeholder engagement.
At the point there has been a dispute or concern about the business, such as internal conflicts, potential fraud or exit plans, we have independently investigated the concern and provided remedial options.
For any of these moments, business owners and/or directors can benefit from additional and responsive support from professionals that understand the exact needs of their business.
Our advisory and resources hub provides up-to-date information from all of our specialist areas, to help build awareness, mitigate challenges, and assist well-informed decisions.
Contact us
If you would like to speak to a specialist at Opus, we can arrange for a non-obligatory and confidential call. Please call 0203 995 6380, email support@opusllp.com or schedule a call with us to arrange this.
Advisory services: How we can help
Financial Advisory
Providing a breadth of advisory support roles, including turnaround support, to help clients to overcome financial and operational difficulties and get back on track.
Restructuring
Helping to protect viable businesses to reorganise their operations, debts, or assets in order to continue trading and survive as a going concern.
Insolvency
Working with businesses and individuals to address challenges and provide support. We undertake all aspects of insolvency for companies, partnerships and individuals, including cases in Scotland.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Working with clients to navigate the process of buying or selling a business and ultimately helping to deliver successful outcomes. The team works with a client through every stage of the process and makes suggestions on how value can be added at every stage
until completion.
Growth Equity
Providing investment capital to growing businesses, supporting owners with strategic equity funding to unlock value and drive growth.
Bridge Funding
Delivering short-term financing solutions and specialist funding for businesses. Providing the financing required to allow companies to reach a capital event.
Wealth Management
Identifying and evaluating high-potential investment opportunities, assisting with strategic acquisitions and providing bespoke guidance that aligns with financial aspirations.
Forensic Accounting
Providing support for businesses facing disputes, requiring investigation support or valuation services. The team
has experience in both large-scale, multi-jurisdictional investigations, and discreet and covert investigations into
alleged rogue employees.
Corporate Simplification
Supporting organisations that are looking to realise their equity investment whether due to retirement,
preparation for sale, re-organisation, simplifying complex group structures, risk and cost reduction of dormant companies’ or closure to obtain tax reliefs.
Transformation
Supporting businesses as they navigate complex change to improve performance, adapt to new technologies, and meet evolving customer needs. These services include business model redesign and operational efficiency improvements.
Personal Insolvency
Supporting individuals who cannot afford to pay debts in a reasonable amount of time with personal insolvency advice including remedies such as IVA, Bankruptcy and Protected Trust Deed.
Creditor Services
Creditors don’t always have the time or resources available to deal with the burden of insolvency paperwork or processes. We provide specialist advice and assistance with all aspects of insolvency and debt-related matters.
Property Recovery & Advisory
Providing a practical, commercial and cost sensitive approach to all of your property portfolio issues. The team has an in-depth understanding of the property market and how best to protect and enhance the value of the asset subject to the security.
Contentious Insolvency & Investigations
The team carries out investigations in relation to legal action against third parties and former directors when a business is unable to meet its debt obligations.
Corporate Strategy & Positioning
Opus helps business owners raise capital in various parts of the company lifecycle, in particular series A-D equity, venture debt, growth capital, debt restructuring or development capital.
Advisory Articles
Below are our most recent articles that support decision making for business owners and directors and provide more details about topics in our markets.
If you would like to speak to a member of the Opus team now, please call the central office number on 0203 995 6380 and we will connect you with one of our team based on your location and enquiry.
If you want to schedule some time, our team can be contacted on support@opusllp.com or you can schedule in a time for us to contact you by clicking here.
The importance of effective credit risk management
In today’s dynamic business environment in the UK, the ability to identify, assess and mitigate credit risk has become a vital determinant of long-term viability, profitability and competitive advantage. With economic uncertainty fuelled by global challenges, UK businesses are increasingly exposed to counterparty risk, supply chain disruptions and the broader consequences of bad debts.
The critical signs of impending business failure
In the fast-evolving landscape of the UK business environment and amid such geopolitical uncertainty, resilience and adaptability are prized assets, but even well-established Companies can find themselves struggling against the tide of insolvency and commercial adversity.
Thinking about liquidation? Here are some points to consider
For many business owners, if they are thinking about liquidation, the decision to liquidate is one of the toughest they’ll ever face. Whether financial pressures have become insurmountable or it’s simply time to step away, understanding the process and its implications is crucial. Before making the final call, there are a number of key factors to think about.
The benefits of cash flow forecasting for businesses
Cash flow forecasting should never be seen as just a financial exercise; it’s a cornerstone of business strategy and sustainability. It’s indispensable in today’s dynamic business environment. It represents a strategic tool for achieving financial success. It is also essential for avoiding business failure. The old cliché ‘Cash is King’ lies behind every analysis of the most common reasons why companies collapse.
Understanding the difference between fraudulent and wrongful trading
Retention of Title (RoT) is essentially a credit risk management tool, designed to protect the supplier from bad debts. The supplier just wants to get paid and rarely has any real desire to get involved in the disruption of taking back and re-selling their goods, but RoT provides a lever with which to apply pressure for the bill to be settled. The question is: what happens if the buyer files for insolvency?
Dealing with HMRC arrears
PAYE and VAT make up the vast majority of arrears owed to HMRC. Unfortunately, delaying payments against these debts is a tempting way for struggling Companies to try to manage a cash flow crisis. The problem is that HMRC has enforcement powers that go beyond that of other creditors and can seek to recover unpaid debts from Directors in some circumstances. So, building up PAYE and VAT arrears is a dangerous strategy, especially now that HMRC has become far more aggressive about collecting overdue taxes.
What does insolvency mean for Retention of Title rights?
Retention of Title (RoT) is essentially a credit risk management tool, designed to protect the supplier from bad debts. The supplier just wants to get paid and rarely has any real desire to get involved in the disruption of taking back and re-selling their goods, but RoT provides a lever with which to apply pressure for the bill to be settled. The question is: what happens if the buyer files for insolvency?
What happens when Directors misbehave?
When directors misbehave the consequences can be swift and severe. Ignorance is no defence when it comes to directors’ duties. In this article, we explore two court rulings which lift the lid on some of the real-world misbehaviour that gets Directors into serious trouble.
The perils of overtrading
For many years, growth has been an overriding objective for the majority of UK businesses. Winning a big new contract, gaining a major new customer or successfully launching a new product or service are all events to be celebrated. Increased sales are an unchallenged positive. But if that expansion is unsustainable and worst of all, unplanned, it can be at the expense of profitability and a cause of sharply increased financial risk. Overtrading is one of the major causes of business failure.
Creditor pressure on struggling businesses
When the economic outlook darkens, suppliers and service providers know that credit risks increase and the prospect of bad debts hitting their bottom-line profits looms ever larger. The canny operators will be trying ever harder to avoid losses altogether, or at least to mitigate the damage. Unsurprisingly in the current uncertain business environment, more and more creditors are willing to use the courts to collect overdue debts via the Winding Up Petition route, which is the final destination on the creditor enforcement journey.
What does disqualification mean for a Company Director?
Anyone acting as a Company Director must carry on the Company’s business in a ‘proper’ manner, which in practice means complying with their Fiduciary Duties. This can best be summarised as putting the interests of their Company and its shareholders first.
Directors have a range of duties and responsibilities, which are intended to make sure that the Company’s best interests and its success are their overriding priority, as well as discouraging any conduct designed to benefit Directors or third parties personally to the detriment of the Company.
What is a Shadow Director and what are the legal implications
The concept of a ‘Shadow Director’ is generally only relevant when a Company is financially threatened and most often when it goes into a formal insolvency procedure, such as Liquidation or Administration. Otherwise, the issue might arise in the case of inbound litigation against a Company and its Directors or enforcement action by its regulators.
In the wider context of the corporate governance of a business, the existence of one or more Shadow Directors can create a range of problems. One way or another, understanding the implications and potential downsides of Shadow Directorship is essential for Companies, shareholders, advisers, managers, insurers and a wide range of other stakeholders.
Opus is UK based with 14 offices nationally, run by local Partners. As a firm, we are focused on supporting clients through the next steps of their business journey and delivering commercially driven results.
See all articles for business owners and directors
Above are the most recently published articles for business owners and directors. For all articles, click on the button below.
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