Francis & Associates Insolvency Practitioners/Administration/IVA/CVA/Liquidation/DMP/Blackpool/Lancaster

Francis & Associates Insolvency Practitioners are licensed by the Insolvency Practitioners Association. With over 30 years insolvency experience we help guide clients through the process of financial recovery. We offer a personal one to one service to companies and individuals based within England and Wales. Corporate Solutions we can facilitate Administration An Administration is a procedure which is aimed at rescuing a company. It protects the company from its creditors whilst a plan to restructure is implemented. A licensed Insolvency Practitioner is appointed and their role is to manage the business and its assets for the benefit of its creditors. An Administrator can be appointed by the following; court, the company, its directors or a floating charge holder. The Administrators aim is to rescue the company as a going concern. If it is not possible to rescue the company, the secondary aim is to achieve a better result for the creditors than if the company were to be wound up. If neither can be achieved the final aim is to realise property in order to make a distribution to one or more preferential creditors. No legal action may be taken against a company in Administration without the consent of the Administrator or the court. An Administration will last no longer than twelve months. Company Voluntary Arrangements(CVA) A CVA is common route taken by directors of a firm who believe their company has a future if given enough time to stay any creditor action. To also reduce monthly credit commitments to a more manageable level or freeze payments altogether allowing directors to concentrate on moving the business forward. In a CVA the directors maintain overall control of the company and a Licenced Insolvency Practitioner will contact their creditors direct to meet an agreement. The Company's creditors will usually receive 25% to 100% of what is owed to them, payments which will be made from the company's on going trading. The arrangement is a legally binding contract between the company and its creditors. Once approved the arrangement usually last for a period of five years but shorter arrangements can be proposed due to the introduction of lump sum payments by example re-financing company assets. Liquidations There are three types of Liquidations, a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation(CVL), Compulsory Liquidation, and a Members Voluntary Liquidation(MVL). Creditors Voluntary Liquidation If a company is insolvent and cannot continue to trade then directors would seek a CVL. With the help of a Licenced Insolvency Practitioner directors would request a meeting with its company members and creditors to pass a resolution to wind up the company and appoint a Liquidator. All company assets including book debts will be realised and the proceeds fund the cost of the liquidation. Any surplus funds are issued to unsecured creditors as a dividend. If there are insufficient assets in the company to cover the Liquidators costs then the Liquidator may require a personal guarantee from the directors to pay the costs. At the meeting of creditors a report will be presented detailing the company history, its financial circumstances and why it has gone into Liquidation. Compulsory Liquidation A Compulsory Liquidation is a legal process where a Liquidator is appointed by order of court to wind up a limited company usually initiated by creditors such as HMRC following none payment of a statutory demand. A winding-up-petition must not be ignored and you should seek advice off an Insolvency Practitioner before any action date. A Winding Up Order stops your company from trading and its affairs will be investigated by the Official Receiver(OR). The OR would then decide whether to call a meeting of creditors to consider the appointment of a liquidator. If not already done so the company will usually cease to trade on the granting of the Winding Up Order. All assets of the company, including book debts, will be realised and proceeds of these will fund the cost of the Liquidation. Any excess funds will be available as a dividend to unsecured creditors. Members Voluntary Liquidation An MVL is a Liquidation of a company which is solvent. An MVL is usually used in circumstances where there has been a breakdown in relationship between directors, members, changes in the market place making future business no longer viable or the members wish to remove their investment from the company and retire. In an MVL directors produce a declaration of solvency. The document states the company's debts will be paid in full within twelve months from the date of Liquidation. What to do now If you feel any of the above procedures can help or you would just like some free initial advice then contact Francis & Associates today on 0161 924 2210.