Zombie companies with negative balance sheets and surviving only through the indulgence of their creditors have long been a worrying feature of the UK economy, creating unlevel playing fields for healthy competitors and acting as a drag on GDP growth. Our research in June 2022 revealed that there were 257,150 UK registered companies with liabilities that exceeded their assets by
There are many ways in which Directors can be made to contribute towards the losses suffered by creditors when a company fails. The best known being Wrongful Trading. Less common are actions for Fraudulent Trading and Misfeasance. The 2020 Finance Act gave HMRC draconian powers to recover unpaid company tax liabilities from Directors. Directors who have taken illegal dividends and
In this monthly update, we take a closer look at the latest UK economy stats and discuss what they may mean for UK businesses in the coming month. UK GDP However much the Office for National Statistics fiddles about revising past GDP numbers by a few tenths of a percentage point, the reality is that the UK economy is bumping
The government consulted in 2021 on its proposals to reform and modernise the regulation of insolvency practitioners (IPs) and the insolvency market more widely. It has now published its intentions, having taken into account the responses to its proposals. The reaction from the insolvency world has been a broad welcome, but with some concerns. No single insolvency regulator This was
The latest statistics for UK insolvencies published by The Insolvency Service have prompted some comment about the apparent surge in businesses being liquidated through the creditor-enforced Compulsory Winding Up (CWU) route, with some suggestions that creditors are being far tougher on struggling debtors. Compulsory Winding Up – comparison with 2022 The figures for the seven months to July 2023 showed
Opus Edinburgh is a specialist restructuring and insolvency practice based in the heart of the city. We aim to work closely with local corporates, SMEs and Business Owners that are in difficulty, in order to find the best solutions and move forward decisively. The world of restructuring and insolvency can be complex to navigate, which is why we are on-hand
