Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Struggling companies undergoing a rescue or restructure process will be allowed to continue trading, giving them breathing space to avoid insolvency. New government measures mean that the change involves temporarily suspending wrongful trading provisions retrospectively from 1st March for three months for company directors so they can keep their businesses going without the threat of…
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High-cost short term lender (Payday lender) Uncle Buck has entered administration. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had concerns that Uncle Buck Finance was failing to meet the adequate resources Given the severity of these concerns, the FCA has required Uncle Buck to stop lending to customers. Following on from this action, the members of Uncle…
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Dun & Bradstreet has published its country insight report into the United Kingdom, which looks at the adverse effects of the coronavirus on the country’s business environment. The report has downgraded the UK’s country risk rating by two quartiles to DB3b (a new all-time low) as the coronavirus pandemic continues to adversely impact opportunities for…
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The Government has announced a raft of new measures for self-employed workers. These included: Self-employed people will be able to apply for a grant worth 80% of their average monthly profits over the last three years, up to £2,500 a month. At least half their income needs to have come from self-employment as registered on…
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The Institute of Directors (IoD) is calling for emergency insolvency measures to prevent widespread company collapses. Under current laws, the board of directors has a strict duty to cease trading if the company is facing insolvency, and may face personal financial or legal liabilities at a later date if they seek finance instead of doing…
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UK small business’ previous positivity about their future performance is being overshadowed by stress, anxiety and sleepless nights over access to finance according to research from fintech specialist, Liberis. While an encouraging 61% of small businesses in the UK questioned before the Coronavirus outbreak were confident of success in 2021 and beyond, mental health and…
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With coronavirus already affecting businesses, new research from Nucleus Commercial Finance reveals that prior to the virus having an impact, nearly half of SMEs (47%) predicted their finances would keep them running for a month if they were suddenly and unexpectedly unable to trade. This means that 2.67m small businesses may already be struggling with…
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The incomes of self-employed people are ‘falling like a stone’ amidst economic disruption caused by Covid-19, according to charity the Money Advice Trust, which runs the Business Debtline advice service. The warning comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak told MPs that constructing a scheme to protect the self-employed who are losing work because of the Coronavirus…
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Shoosmiths has announced the appointment of two new Partners in its corporate restructuring and M&A teams. Lemi McAuley, who will be based in Leeds, is a specialist in board advisory and transactional matters and has acted for a number of corporate clients, clearing banks, private equity providers and insolvency practitioners. His appointment means Shoosmiths now…
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Deloitte has announced that it has appointed Martin Chapman as Restructuring Services Director. Chapman has joined the firm as a director from another ‘big four’ firm, where he was the national sector expert for restructuring in education. His experience includes working with higher education institutions, further education corporations, independent schools, private training providers, lenders to…
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The estimated total bill to taxpayers for responding to the collapse of Thomas Cook is at least £156 million, with some costs not yet known, a new National Audit Office (NAO) report has found. Thomas Cook collapsed on 23rd September 2019 and all flight and holiday bookings were cancelled, leaving an estimated 150,000 customers potentially…
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Ofgem has announced that Gnergy, a gas and electricity supplier with around 9,000 domestic customers and a small number of non-domestic customers is ceasing to trade. Under Ofgem’s safety net, the energy supply of Gnergy’s customers will continue and outstanding credit balances of domestic customers will be protected. Ofgem will choose a new supplier to…
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Laura Ashley has filed for administration after failing to secure £15 million of emergency cash to stay afloat. The move puts around 2,700 jobs at risk.The company said that owner MUI Asia was not willing to provide the extra cash, and could not secure a loan from elsewhere. In a statement the company said “The…
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