Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Government has set out new proposals to reform and simplify regulation of the insolvency sector. The new consultation is inviting views on creating a single regulator for Insolvency Practitioners and extending regulation to firms that offer insolvency services. Key changes set out in the consultation include: establishing a single independent regulator to sit within…
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The Insolvency Service can now investigate and disqualify directors who dissolve their own companies in order to avoid paying liabilities. If misconduct is found, directors can face sanctions, 15-year-long bans or, in the most serious of cases, prosecution. Rogue directors who dissolve their companies and avoid paying liabilities to staff, creditors and the taxpayer can now…
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While company directors are generally protected by limited liability, recovery powers granted to HMRC in the Finance Act 2020 mean directors can face greater personal liability for tax debts held by the company in the event of insolvency. This has potentially huge ramifications for your clients if they intend to utilise an insolvency procedure to…
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Government support of energy provider Bulb, which is set to continue to operate under a Special Administration Regime (SAR), is set to cost £1.7billion. The funds will allow Bulb to continue supplying energy to customers. Bulb will be run by administrator Teneo until a buyer can be found or until its customers have moved. A…
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Bulb Energy, which has 1.7 million customers, has announced that the firm will be put into administration. The energy firm has confirmed it will enter the special administration regime (SAR), becoming the first energy supplier to do so. The decision to place a company into a Special Administration Regime is made by the court upon…
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Savants Restructuring and Savants Covenant Advisory have appointed Quantuma to oversee their own administration with immediate effect. The company has ceased to trade with immediate effect, after Adrian Duncan, a sole practitioner and Director of Savant, had his insolvency licence withdrawn by the Insolvency Service. Carl Jackson and Michael Hall of business advisory firm Quantuma…
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Recent changes to laws around insolvency could cause major problems for suppliers according to Bishop & Sewell. The London law firm is recommending that companies proactively review their commercial relationships and, where necessary, take steps to re-negotiate contracts and reduce their exposure to creditors. George Marques, a Senior Associate Solicitor in Bishop & Sewell’s Corporate…
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The number of businesses in England and Wales that failed last month was the largest since the pandemic began, with Insolvency Service data showing that 1,446 company insolvencies were logged in September. Business insolvencies increased by 7.2% in September 2021 compared to August’s figure of 1,349, and increased by 55.8% compared to September 2020’s figure…
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The UK’s furlough support scheme, introduced in March 2020 and helped pay the wages of 11.6 million workers after Covid-19 forced large parts of the economy to close, is to end today (Thursday 30th September). HMRC figures indicated that at the end of July it was still supporting the incomes of around 1.6 million workers. The…
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New data from the Registry Trust has indicated that 47% of businesses that became insolvent in May and June 2021 had an outstanding county court judgment (CCJ) against them. Whilst 78% of those who became insolvent with an outstanding CCJ had received their first CCJ within the previous 999 days. With the Insolvency Service’s latest…
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Audit accountancy firm Grant Thornton (GT) has been fined £2.34 million after an investigation found ‘serious lack of competence; in its audits of cake chain Patisserie Valerie. The audits carried out in 2015, 2016, and 2017 gave the company a clean bill of health – before it disclosed potential fraud in 2018 and subsequently collapsed,…
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MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fair Business Banking have voiced concern over the insolvency profession after an inquiry found evidence of alleged widespread misconduct, saying it has received ‘startling’ evidence about the sector. Kevin Hollinrake, Co-Chairman of the Parliamentary Group, said that sections of the insolvency industry were “operating in a manner…
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The Insolvency Service has outlined a new five-year strategy with the aim to develop its services to support businesses, consumers and deliver economic confidence The strategy sets out how the Insolvency Service will develop its services over the next 5 years to strengthen the UK’s insolvency regime and contribute to the UK being the best place in…
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