Major motorcycle dealer in the South West, Marsh Holdings Ltd, which ran the Yamaha dealership and the Marsh Garages Used Car Centre in Exeter, the Triumph and Harley-Davidson showrooms in Plymouth and a Harley-Davidson outlet in Southampton has gone into administration.Administrators at Westcotts Business Recovery, in Exeter, have been appointed. They have this notice on their website
We respectfully ask that any queries are directed to the proposed Administrators, Westcotts Business Recovery, 26 -28 Southernhay East, Exeter, Devon, EX1 1NS (Tel: 01392 288555) as is the norm in these sad and difficult circumstances.
The company employed 62 people at its showrooms and had a turnover of £30m.The company blamed very difficult trading conditions due to a number of factors. Poor weather, cost of living, oversupply of stock, recent uncertainty surrounding Labour's first budget.
The October monthly insolvency statistics have been released.
Company Insolvencies
After seasonal adjustment, there were 1,747 company insolvencies in October 2024, 10% lower than in September 2024 and 24% lower than in October 2023. The decrease of 10% compared to September 2024 is less than the average absolute change of 12% between consecutive months over the past three years. Average monthly numbers so far in 2024 have been similar to 2023, which saw the highest annual number since 1993.Company insolvencies peaked during the 2008-09 recession, following the gradual decline seen over the early 2000s. Volumes rose during 2018 and 2019, before falling to the lowest monthly volumes on record during the COVID-19 pandemic. Company insolvencies then increased during 2021 and 2022, with 2023 seeing the highest annual number of company insolvencies since 1993.
CVLs
In October 2024, CVLs accounted for 83% of all company insolvencies. The number of CVLs decreased by 7% from September 2024 and was 24% lower compared to the same month last year (October 2023) after seasonal adjustment.In 2023, the annual number of CVLs reached its highest level since the start of the time series in 1960, continuing the year-on-year increases seen since 2021. Between 2017 and 2019, CVLs had been rising at approximately 10% per year, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, they fell to their lowest levels since 2007.
Compulsory liquidations
The seasonally adjusted number of compulsory liquidations in October 2024 was 14% lower than in September 2024 and 20% lower than in October 2023.The number of compulsory liquidations has increased from record low levels seen in 2020 and 2021, while restrictions applied to the use of statutory demands and certain winding-up petitions (leading to compulsory liquidations). In 2023, compulsory liquidations increased by 44% from 2022 but remained 4% lower than 2019 (pre-pandemic levels).
Administrations
The number of administrations in October 2024 was 35% lower than in September 2024 and 28% lower than in October 2023 after seasonal adjustment.Numbers of administrations increased during 2022 and 2023 from an 18-year annual low seen during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Current levels are similar to those seen between 2015 and 2019.
Find the full release here.
One of the Britain's oldest tea companies has filed an intention to appoint administrators in the court.This follows a very difficult year with sales falling and an expensive break in at one of its factories. Sales fell from £38m to £25m in 2023 and it had to take an exception cost of £24m relating to the damage of stock and equipment following the break in.The company was founded in 1903 by grocer John Sumner and was at one time the best selling tea brand in the UK.It should be noted that the intention to appoint administrators is a way of protecting the company from aggressive creditor actions, such as winding up petitions. It gives the company protection for 10 days whilst it tries to rescue the business. This might be additional finance or a sale. EY is named as the possible administrator and will be looking at the options.Private equity firm Zetland Capital has been the company’s majority shareholder since 2021. Typhoo’s debts stood at £73m at the end of September 2023, compared to £53m a year earlier.According to the company's accounts it has made losses in excess of £40m every year since 2019.
Homebase, the hardware and home improvement retailer has gone into administration with Teneo,
It has been reported that The Range, the privately owned general merchandise retailer, are near to closing in on a rescue deal, via a pre pack deal which would save approximately 1,500 jobs for Homebase. The Range has become one of the fastest-growing retailers in the UK, founded in 1989 and now has 210 stores to its name, across the country.
There was also interest received from other DIY rivals, discount food retailers and high street brands, as per sources. Hilco have been working on this sale for a few months now, with hope something will come to fruition.
Such a deal would end the six years of ownership from Hilco. Back in 2018 Hilco rescued Homebase from trouble via a Company Voluntary Arrangement process - so this is of course not the first time Homebase have been in difficulty.
The DIY market has been facing headwinds from the cost of living crisis and recent uncertainty about the economy.
RMT Accountants Growing Business Recovery Sector Presence With KSA Group Acquisition
RMT Accountants & Business Advisors, part of the Sumer Group, is set to grow its presence in the business recovery and insolvency sector after completing the acquisition of a specialist restructuring practice for an undisclosed sum. RMT has acquired the KSA Group, which specialises in pre-insolvency solutions and works with the directors and owners of struggling businesses to effect rescues often without the need for a formal insolvency process. The 15-strong KSA team, which includes four directors and two Licensed Insolvency Practitioners, is staying in post, with the combined restructuring team being led by RMT director and head of recovery & restructuring, Chris Ferguson. KSA has offices in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Gateshead, Edinburgh and London, and was one of the first UK insolvency practices to take a digital approach to delivering its services, with the https://www.companyrescue.co.uk portal it first launched in 2001 providing a range of free information and advice to business owners who are looking for help. It is also nationally renowned in its use of Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs) for small and medium sized companies, with more than £31m being returned to their clients’ creditors and HMRC through KSA’s CVA work. The deal marks RMT’s third acquisition since it became part of the Sumer Group, the UK’s leading mid-market accountancy practice for SMEs, and made growth by acquisition a key part of its commercial strategy. RMT completed the acquisition of rural and agricultural specialists McCowie & Co in late 2023, while it joined forces in the summer with Durham-headquartered Ribchesters Chartered Accountants, which now operates as RMT Ribchesters. Chris Ferguson, director and head of recovery & restructuring at RMT, says: “Much of the work done by insolvency professionals goes under the radar, with pre-emptive support and advice helping to save hundreds of companies and thousands of jobs across the UK every year without the need for a formal insolvency process. “KSA has a particularly strong regional and national reputation in this respect, with the team’s skills and experience complementing RMT’s existing recovery and insolvency offering extremely well. “The increased resources that the combined team provides will enable us to widen the reach of our business rescue and restructuring work, both within the North East and across the UK. “This is the latest example of how becoming part of a nationwide organisation like Sumer, with a clear strategy for growth, is providing us with opportunities to bring in additional expertise which enhances the services we offer to our clients.” Keith Steven, founder and managing director at KSA Group, adds: “Our long-term success has been based on working directly with owners and directors to provide a holistic picture of the options available to their struggling businesses and then delivering the support and advice they’ve needed to find the best way to move forward. “Becoming part of a larger group will provide continuity for our expert team and a range of new opportunities, and we’re excited to be moving into this next stage of our business’s development. ” RMT Accountants & Business Advisors provides the full range of financial and business advisory services through its specialist teams, and works with companies of all sizes within and outside the North East, as well as internationally. Sumer is the UK and Ireland’s leading mid-market accountancy practice, delivering professional support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and employs over 2,000 staff across more than 40 offices. For further information, please contact Julian Christopher at Footprint Public Relations on 07891 005034KSA Group would also like to add special thanks to Alex Robson of Clarke Mairs Newcastle for assistance with the legals.
Following the collapse of the wedding venue, Stapleford Park Hotel in Leicestershire, 90 jobs have been lost and all reservations and events cancelled.It was confirmed on Thursday that Leonard Curtis had been appointed as Stapleford Park Limited's liquidator.The Grade-I listed property near Melton Mowbray was not owned by the hotel company, according to the firm, and its future "remains uncertain at this stage."Following the venue's closing, which featured superstars including the late US pop sensation Michael Jackson, 92 employees were laid off."Our priority was to ensure the most orderly wind-down of trading possible," stated Alex Cadwallader of Leonard Curtis, who was named a joint liquidator with Neil Bennett.Alex said; “Significant efforts were made to communicate with and re-locate the guests that were staying at the hotel, which was at approximately 50% occupancy.“Leonard Curtis attended the site and worked closely with front of house staff to make this possible, and the wider group also met some essential costs to limit the impact on guests and future bookings.“However, we fully appreciate that some guests will have been adversely impacted.”The Grade-I listed mansion is surrounded by 500 acres of parkland and 48 guest rooms.The hotel's management "was unable to generate the turnover required," according to the liquidator, "despite efforts to reach profitability."
Reaction Engines, a company working on a hybrid rocket engine that will allow for hypersonic flying, submitted a notice of intention to appoint administrators.
The administration will be managed by PwC restructuring specialists.The company was dubbed as being able to launch the "next Concorde" but now 173 of the 208 staff have been made redundant.In a statement PwC said [Reaction Engines] had been “pursuing opportunities to raise further funds, but unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful”.Sarah O’Toole, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said: “It’s with great sadness that a pioneering company with a 35-year history of spearheading aerospace innovation has unfortunately been unable to raise the funding required to continue operations.”The Oxfordshire business had been negotiating for a financial lifeline with its shareholders, notably the Strategic Development Fund of the United Arab Emirates.It was hoped that Sabre, the hybrid jet and rocket engine being developed by Reaction Engines, could have allowed hypersonic spacecraft to travel from Britain to Australia in as little as four hours.Reaction's Sabre technology, short for Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine, was first developed in 1989.The company has received several government subsidies in addition to investments from BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. But it also consumed tens of millions of pounds annually.Last year, the business raised £40 million from investors, including those in the United Arab Emirates, increasing its total capital to almost £150 million.The most recent financial statements show that Reaction's yearly losses in 2022 increased from £18.4 million to £25.7 million, while its sales decreased from £7.2 million to £4.7 million.
Many company directors will be picking over the budget to see how it will affect their bottom line. Without doubt, this has been a budget that has taken the majority of the taxes directly from businesses as opposed to "working people."For companies that are already struggling, this budget will be a big worry.
National Insurance
When a company goes "bust,” it is often the case that the biggest creditor is HMRC. It is currently estimated that there is some £40bn of taxes owed to HMRC by struggling companies.The changes set to be introduced in April 2025 will make it more likely that businesses will become insolvent. The main reason for this is a rise in employers’ national insurance contributions. Unlike Capital Gains Tax (CGT), that is levied on profits, i.e. companies that are not struggling, any increase in employers’ contributions are paid irrespective of the financial state of the company. This is likely to put huge pressure on. What is more, employers’ National Insurance (NI) is a tax that is paid on the 19th day after the employee is paid. CGT and VAT are not paid until between 3 and 18 months later.One good thing is that the employers NI allowance is increasing from £5k to £10k which means that very small businesses with a handful of employees will actually be better off. To see exactly how such small businesses will be affected by the changes, see this post here on Linkedin. https://lnkd.in/eKKSc2r9
Minimum Wage
An increase in the minimum wage will disproportionately affect already struggling businesses as they will have no headroom to absorb the increase. Struggling businesses are often more nervous about raising prices than more profitable ones, as any loss of a customer could spell the end.If your company is already struggling with payroll taxes (NI) then it is probably a good idea to get ahead of the situation and talk to company rescue experts at
The September monthly insolvency statistics have been released.
Company Insolvencies
Statistics report that in September 2024 there was a total of 1,973 registered company insolvencies in England and Wales, a 7% decrease compared to September 2023, yet a 2% increase compared to August 2024.Administrations and CVLs saw an increase compared to last month, but for CVAs and Compulsory Liquidatio there was a decrese.Overall, creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) remained the most common tool used, comprising 80% of cases.No moratoriums or restructuring plans were registered at Companies House through September 2024.In the 12 months to date, the company liquidation rates was 55 per 10,000 companies on the effective register in England and Wales. This relates to 1 in 182 companies entering insolvency. This rate has remained pretty stable when comparing to the last few months.When exploring company insolvencies by industry, the majority of industries saw an increase in company insolvencies in the 12 months to 31 August 2024. Notable changes are for Accommodation and Food Service and Information Technology.Scotland and Northern Ireland both saw a decrease in insolvencies in September 2024, being 16% and 24% respectively, compared to September 2023.Find the full release here.
Family owned Staverton and Gloucester-based company Completely Motoring Ltd. (CM) that specialises in Vehicles and Motorbike sales has gone into administration and is seeking a buyer.The firm was created in 2009 and has grown to become a major used and new vehicle reseller in Wales and the South West, employing 165 people across 14 showrooms and 11 locations.To March 31, 2023, the firm reported turnover of £78.4 million, up from £50.3 million, although pre-tax earnings fell from slightly over £1 million to £677,000.After a difficult summer and financial issues, the group has gone into administration.Azets restructuring partner and licensed insolvency practitioner Jonathan Amor, Matthew Richards, and Alessandro Sidoli of Xeinadin Corporate Recovery Limited were appointed joint administrators of Completely Motoring Ltd, John Wilkins (Motor Engineers) Ltd, and Thunder Road Motorcycles Ltd.After their appointment, the joint administrators have invited interested parties to approach them as quickly as possible to ensure the group's continuation.Jonathan Amor said: "After weak summer sales, the group is struggling financially. Thus, the group is under administration to preserve it.”We are discussing sales with interested parties. We have received many expressions of interest and ask any further parties to contact us as soon as possible to secure the group's future and save as much of the business and employment as feasible."The group's 2023 accounts showed £4.37 million in fixed assets, £23.8 million in current assets, and £2 million in net assets.
Update 07th OctoberBreal Capital and Calveton UK have secured a rescue deal for TGI Fridays, meaning the chain will continue to exist on UK high streets.However, the deal includes just 51 of its 86 sites, forcing 35 to shut with immediate effect.1,012 redundancies have been made - please refer to our guide here on your rights in redundancy.The new private equity owners, Breal and Calveton, jointly own the upmarket restaurant chain D&D London. Between them they have also had investments in Byron Burger and wine bar chain Vinoteca - so they are no stranger to the restaurant world!
A full list of the TGI Friday sites closingBarnsley
Birmingham
Bracknell
Brighton Marina
Bristol Cabot Circus
Cardiff Newport Road
Chelmsford
Cheltenham
Croydon
Derby
Dundee
Durham
Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird
Enfield
Gateshead
Gloucester Quays
Halifax
Jersey
Leeds
Leeds Trinity
Leicester
Lincoln
Manchester Royal Exchange
Newcastle Eldon Square
Newport
Northampton
Prestwich
Romford
Sale
Solihull
Southampton West Quay South
Speke
Sutton Coldfield
Swansea
Watford NorthUpdate 19th SeptemberHostmore, the owners of TGI Fridays has gone into administration and the 86 sites are now officially up for sale."The sale process remains ongoing, with no decisions having been made to close any existing stores, and TGI Fridays continues to operate normally across the country," a Hostmore spokesperson told the BBC.According to reports in the Telegraph administrators at Teneo, the restructuring firm, are on standby if TGI Fridays cannot sell its restaurants. The firm ran into trouble following its attempted foray into the US. The chain has 86 restaurants and employs 3000 people.The owners of the chain, Hostmore, has £35m of debts.The business was spun out of private equity trust Electra in November 2021 in a move that Hostmore chief executive Robert Cook hailed as a “significant milestone”.Its shares started trading at 147p but by March of last year it had lost 90% of its value. By Monday 16th September 2024 the whole company has been valued at £1m.
Could it be that TGIs could go into a CVA?
The CVA would only really work if the main problem was high rents or just certain outlets needed to be closed down. The money that it owes its lender is no doubt secured so they have the power to call in administrators at any time.Without knowing more about its exact financial position it is hard to say.If the company does go into administration it is likely that a number of the restaurants, which are making money, will be snapped up by other restaurant groups and may continue to trade under the TGI brand. If not then the owners will take advantage of their prime locations.
Dobbies, the garden centre group, is looking to close 17 of its 77 stores before the end of the year, in order to address “historically uneconomical rent costs”.The garden centre group is embarking on a restructuring plan expected to return Dobbies to “sustainable profitability” that impacts 465 staff (of which 82 work full-time).11 unprofitable garden centres and all six of its ‘little Dobbies’ high street sites will shut, whilst the group looks to secure rent reductions at another nine sites.Reports back in August indicated that FTI Consulting were advising them on a possible CVAThis would enable them to put pressure on landlords to reduce rents as a CVA can allow the company to exit premises if the CVA is approved. However, in subsequent statements it is clear that it has moved to a restructuring plan. Such a plan will include secured creditors as well whereas a CVA is only binding on unsecured creditors. A restructuring plan also has to be approved by a court.Dobbies was established in 1865 and grew to employ 3,600 staff across the UK. It was acquired by Ares Management last year and reported a £105.2m pre-tax loss in the year to March 2023.The company said: “The restructuring plan, and other strategic initiatives, are expected to return Dobbies to sustainable profitability through site rationalisations, rent reductions and other tangible cost savings, securing its long-term future and allowing access to future investment.“Thereafter, Dobbies will operate 60 stores and continue to play a key role in the market, working constructively with stakeholders and suppliers, and having an active and committed role in the communities in which it’s based.”The garden centres closing this year:
Altrincham
Antrim
Gloucester
Gosforth
Harlestone Heath
Huntingdon
Inverness
King’s Lynn
Pennine
Reading
Stratford-upon-AvonThe Little Dobbies high street stores closing:
Cheltenham
Chiswick
Clifton
Richmond upon Thames
Stockbridge
Westbourne Grove, London
