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News of UK Companies That Have Gone Bust Or In Administration

The listings included on this page are of companies that have gone into administration, CVA or liquidation. It is not a definitive list but a summary of the major company failures in the UK.

Why do companies go bust?

It should be noted that a company “failing” or closing down is not the same thing as one going bust. A failing business can be defined as one that has not been successful in its aims. If it can’t generate enough money to pay its owners/shareholders then it might just cease trading and the directors wind up the company. There are thousands of such ventures and many of the owners/directors have another go and may well go on to succeed.

Going bust is basically where the business cannot continue in its present form, as it owes too much money and the creditors want it back! These creditors can be; HMRC, Banks or other Lenders, Trade Suppliers.

It should also be noted that an insolvent company i.e one that owes its creditors more than it has in cash/assets, is not actually bust. It can continue as long as it has cash to pay for essential activities and no one is putting pressure on the business to repay the debt. Once a company has a winding up petition issued against it this tends to crystallise the situation.

Latest News

 

Birch Hotel Properties Go Into Administration With Cheshunt Site Closing Immediately

Birch, the lifestyle membership club which has sites in Cheshunt (Hertfordshire) and Seldson (South Croydon), has placed both hotel properties into administration. This has been due to cashflow difficulties and the inability to reinvest in the properties. Birch Cheshunt Birch's 140-room Cheshunt hotel opened in 2020 with backing from Aprirose. Prior to this, the site was known as De Vere Theobalds Estate Hotel.Administrators from Teneo closed the hotel with immediate effect and announced the closure on the properties website.This property has a bakery, fitness studio, screening rooms, 20 event spaces, three bars, a farm and two restaurants led by chef Robin Gill, to its grounds.Since its opening the co-founders of Birch, Chris Penn and Chris King, had left the business.Employees of Birch Cheshunt in particular have taken to social media to share of their shock and distress. They are seeking help with finding work after being made unemployed overnight. If you are an employee of any of these properties in administration, please see our advice guide. Birch Selsdon For Birch Selsdon, the 181-room hotel is still trading but under the control of administrators from the appointed, Moorfields Advisory.Milan Vuceljic, partner at Moorfields, said: "The Birch hotel group had a unique market proposition, which fitted with today's health and wellbeing culture whilst still boasting a Greater London location. We are currently continuing to trade the hotel whilst we explore various options, which we believe provides a good opportunity for potential purchasers."This property has two restaurants ran by chef Lee Westcott along with a pottery studio, wellness space, reading room, arcade and interactive kitchen to its grounds.Ayo Akinsete is the managing director who saw the opening of this site and is now a part of the senior management team newly appointed to oversee both sites. Company Rescues take: ''The first three years of a new business are always the most difficult. The collapse of Birch is not unusual at this stage particularly in the hospitality sector. With so many potential influencing factors, it comes no surprise. The cost of living means less people able to afford going out, especially to higher end luxury locations, such as these.''

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Birch Hotel Properties Go Into Administration With Cheshunt Site Closing Immediately
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Dot Dot Loans Goes Into Administration

Dot Dot Loans owner the Morses Club and Shelby Finance has gone into administration with the loss of 101 jobs. 272 staff remain across the two firms whilst the administrators look for a rescue or sale.Ed Boyle and Rob Spence from Interpath Advisory have been appointed as joint administrators.The companies have been under financial stress since the Morses Club is now facing lots of customer redress claims for offering them unaffordable loans.In May 2023, the Morses Club entered into a Scheme of Arrangement which is a system of restructuring used for complex financial companies and trusts and is administered by lawyers.The administrators said; “However, despite management’s best efforts, Morses Club has been unable to complete the refinancing of its existing debt facilities and therefore, the directors took the decision to appoint administrators to the businesses.As a result of the insolvency of Morses Club, the scheme automatically terminates early – further information regarding the impact on customers who submitted a claim in the scheme is available on its website”Shortly prior to the appointment of the joint administrators, all new lending ceased, but the companies continue to collect outstanding loans from customers.Administrators said it was "important that customers continue to make payments on outstanding loans as they fall due, as not doing so is likely to impact their credit rating/profile and their ability to borrow".The joint administrators will be working with the employees affected by redundancy over the coming days to provide them with support.

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Dot Dot Loans Goes Into Administration

Monthly Insolvency Statistics: October 2023

in Research and Statistics

The Insolvency Service has published the latest release of its monthly series to provide more up to date information on the number of companies and individuals who are unable to pay debts and enter formal insolvency procedures. The release supplements the Insolvency Service’s quarterly company and individual Insolvency National Statistics.The monthly series began during COVID-19 to assess the impact companies and individuals faced. The releases have continued since to get more in depth and timely data, along with the quarterly release. Company Insolvencies (UK) In October 2023 there was a total of 2,315 registered company insolvencies across England and Wales, further broken down as follows:1,889 Company Voluntary Liquidations (CVLs) - 19% higher than in October 2022 256 Compulsory Liquidations – 2% higher than in October 2022 (and almost exact to that noted for September 2023!) 146 Administrations – 36% higher than in October 2022 23 Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs) – more than 4 times the amount recorded in October 2022 1 Receivership appointmentOverall figures are 18% higher than in October 2022 and also more than recorded in September 2023.Compulsory Voluntary Liquidations are thought to be a main driver for the total company insolvency increase. Compulsory Liquidations and Administrations have returned to levels near that in 2019, pre-pandemic. For CVAs and Receiverships, numbers remained stable with slight increase.Note: between 26 June 2020 and 31 October 2023, 47 companies were granted a moratorium and 22 had restructuring plans registered at Companies House. These procedures were created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. Company Insolvencies (Scotland) October 2023 saw 99 company insolvencies in Scotland. Figures comprised 52 CVLs, 35 compulsory liquidations, 2 CVAs and 4 administrations. There were no receiverships. These statistics were 21% higher than in October 2022.Historically, the number of company insolvencies registered in Scotland has been driven by compulsory liquidations but since April 2020, there have been almost three times as many CVLS as compulsory liquidations. For the first ten months of 2023, CVL numbers remained more than 1.5 times higher than compulsory liquidation numbers.Between 26 June 2020 and 31 October 2023, there were no moratoriums obtained in Scotland and two companies had a restructuring plan registered at Companies House. The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 created these two procedures. Company Insolvencies (Northern Ireland) In October 2023, there were 27 company insolvencies in Northern Ireland, comprising 14 compulsory liquidations, 1 administration and 12 CVLs. There were no CVAs or receiverships. Compared to October 2022, numbers were 80% higher. When looking against September 2023 figures, October 2023 saw fewer total company insolvencies. Touching on individual insolvencies…. Individual Insolvencies in the UK for October 2023 totalled 7,271. This is 27% lower than that in the same month the previous year, thought to be due to a decline in the amount of IVAs.In terms of Debt Relief Orders (DROs) recorded in October 2023, 3,245 were noted. When looking back to October figures of 2022, 2023 stats are 71% higher.There were 703 bankruptcies for England and Wales in October 2023. The records are made up of 553 debtor applications and 150 creditor petitions.Compared to October 2022, bankruptcies were 28% higher, debtor applications were 18% higher and creditor petitions were 90% higher. Numbers for bankruptcy were higher than in the equivalent months of 2022, but remained below pre-2020 levels.It was also found that there were 5,933 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) registered in October 2023. This figure is 27% lower than in October 2022. Compared to September 2023, this is quite an increase but it should be noted IVA numbers for 2023 overall have been lower than the record-high numbers seen in 2022.When looking at the figures for Northern Ireland, October 2023 saw 125 individual insolvencies. Compared to October 2022 statistics, this is 22% lower. 2023 October numbers consisted of 94 IVAs, 7 DROs and 24 bankruptcies.Find the full publication of statistics here.  KSA Group's view; It has been widely reported that the insolveny numbers are going up and this is due to the tougher conditions that businesses have found themselves in. The cost of living crisis has been going on for a while but in the face of high interest rates that seem to be staying high many companies have had to close.

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Monthly Insolvency Statistics: October 2023

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