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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

 

The Squibb Group Proposes A CVA As It Struggles With Large Debts

8th November 2023Today it has been reported that the virtual meeting for creditors to vote on the potential of a CVA for Squibb Group has been delayed. It was scheduled to take place tomorrow, but now will occur on 21 November 2023. 1st November 2023The construction publication, The Enquirer, has seen a copy of the proposed Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) that Squibb has put to its creditors as it seeks to restructure its debts.The proposals by Begbies Traynor show that the company owes £23.3m to over 300 creditors.Unsecured creditors in the supply chain are owed £13.8m.The CVA proposes a dividend to its unsecured creditor of 65p in the pound.The five-year CVA deal would see Squibb make monthly payments of between £100,000 to £160,000 as it continued trading.The company had a time to pay arrangement with  HMRC last year for extra time to pay tax arrears of £4.4m. However a further request or an extension was rejected and HMRC have issued a winding up petition that is due to be heard in December.  It should be noted that HMRC are now secondary preferential creditors and are entitled to 100p in the £1.  CVAs will try and pay HMRC a higher rate in the £1 to secure their support.Squibb has raised extra funds by selling and leasing back its headquarters raising £8m. In addition the Squibb family has loaned the business £4.2m.The CVA document states: “The Company is now in a position to move forward but requires creditor support with existing debts and does not want to proceed into liquidation or administration which would serve to terminate all contracts and result in a worse outcome for creditors as a whole.“The Company is already the subject of an HMRC winding up petition. As a result, it is likely that the Company will be wound up by the Court if the CVA is not approved. This Proposal for a CVA is being presented to creditors as an alternative to the Company being put into liquidation.”75% or more by value of creditors need to agree for the CVA to pass.  KSA Group says that a CVA gives a company a fighting chance of survival and invariably gives a better return to creditors than that of liquidation.  However, they can be difficult to construct and the fundamentals of the business may need to change to ensure its success.  The secured creditors sit outside the CVA so it is important that the company can still pay these creditors in full going forward.

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The Squibb Group Proposes A CVA As It Struggles With Large Debts

Company Insolvency Statistics: Q3 2023

in Research and Statistics

The company insolvency statistics for the third quarter of 2023 (1 July to 30 September) have been released, and so we discuss the findings here.Company Insolvency in England and WalesThe total number of company insolvencies registered in Q3 2023 was 6,208. This is a 10% increase compared to the same period the year before but is a 2% decrease compared to Q2 2023. It should be noted that the two quarters prior to Q3 2023 saw the highest quarterly numbers of insolvencies since Q2 2009! So quarter three shows the figures stabilising and is still near to levels seen post 2008 financial crisis.Process specific breakdown:Creditors voluntary liquidations totalled 4,965 (a 4% decrease from Q2 2023 and a 3% increase from Q3 2022). CVLs accounted for 80% of cases. Compulsory liquidations totalled 735 (a 14% increase from Q2 2023 and a 46% increase from Q3 2022). Compulsory liquidations accounted for 12% of cases. Administrations totalled 466 (a 11% increase from Q2 2023 and a 58% increase from Q3 2022). Administrations accounted for 8% of cases. Company voluntary arrangements totalled 41 (a 27% decrease from Q2 2023 and a 41% increase from Q3 2022). CVAs accounted for 1% of cases. 1 receivership appointment – which is very rare!It should be reflected on that there were 46 companies obtaining a moratorium and 22 companies having restructuring plans registered at Companies House, between 26 June 2020 and 30 September 2023.When comparing to Q2 statistics of 2023, it was a mixed bag whereby administrations and CVLs decreased in use, but CVAs, compulsory liquidations and receiverships all slightly rose.This being said...CVLs hit the highest levels since record began back in 1960, said to be due to experts clearing court backlogs from the covid pandemic.Liquidation Rates per 10,000 active companiesIn the four quarters ending Q3 2023, the liquidation rate for companies was 52.4 per 10,000 active companies in England and Wales (1 in 191 companies liquidated in the 12 months ending 30 September 2023). This rate is almost exact to that recorded in 2023 Q2. When comparing against the rate in Q3 2022, there has been an increase.Company Insolvencies by IndustryFrom analysing SIC codes of companies and the insolvency statistics, it has been shown that the industries experiencing the highest amount of insolvencies in the 12 months ending Q3 2023 were:Construction – 4,276 insolvencies Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of vehicles – 3,777 insolvencies Accommodation and Food Service Activities – 3,477 insolvencies Administrative and Support Service Activities – 2,282 insolvencies Manufacturing – 1,911 insolvenciesThese top five industries match that of Q2 2023 but when looking at the industries experiencing the highest amount of insolvencies in the 12 months ending Q3 2022, there was a much smaller increase in the Construction and Administrative Support sectors.Company Insolvencies in Scotland In Scotland, there were 296 company insolvencies recorded for Q3 2023. This is 7% higher than in the same period of 2022. Statistics included 107 compulsory liquidations, 174 CVLs and 15 administrations. There were no CVAs or receiverships.The liquidation rate for the 12 months ending Q3 2023 was 51.7 per 10,000 active companies. This was up by 7.7 compared to the same period the year before, but was almost exact to that in Q2 2023.Between 26 June 2020 and 30 September 2023, there were no moratoriums in Scotland, but there were two restructuring plans registered at Companies House.Company Insolvencies in Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland saw 62 company insolvencies in Q3 2023 – almost double the amount recorded in Q2 2023. It also is an increase of 24$ compared to the same quarter of 2022. The statistics consist of 23 CVLs, 30 compulsory liquidations, 1 administration and 8 CVAs. There were no receiverships.The liquidation rate for the 12 months ending Q3 2023 was 22.4 per 10,000 active companies in Northern Ireland. This was a decrease of 2.7 from in the same period the year before.The full report and findings can be seen here.

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Company Insolvency Statistics: Q3 2023

Safestyle UK Goes Into Administration

LATEST:Following this mornings announcement, it has been shared that the business has gone into administration. Rick Harrison and Will Wright from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators to H.P.A.S Limited, trading as Safestyle UK, Style Group Holdings Ltd and Style Group UK Ltd on 30 October 2023.Redundancies have been made for 680 of its 750 strong workforce. If you are an employee and have been made redundant or are concerned about what this means for you, please check out our guide.For customers, if you have outstanding orders then they are not going to be fulfilled - unless a buyer is found and the orders are included in the deal.A Bradford based double glazing windows firm has announced its intention to appoint administrators. Safestyle UK announced that it would appoint administrators after weeks of uncertainty at the company. They acknowledged that they haven't been successful in finding a buyer for the company or fresh financiers to provide funding.The company's share price has been falling due to unfavourable trading updates during the autumn, and at the beginning of the month, they announced that they were seeking new investors to provide more funding for the company.They published the following statement on Friday night:Safestyle UK plc (AIM: SFE.) announces that following its announcement of 26 October 2023 (the “26 October Announcement”), the interested parties that were, at that time, involved in the Proposed Sale process as defined in that announcement, have withdrawn their respective interests.Therefore, the Board of the main trading subsidiary of the Group, H.P.A.S. Limited (“HPAS”) and other intermediate holding companies in the Group, namely Style Group Holdings Limited and Style Group UK Limited, has concluded that they are no longer able to continue trading as a going concern.Consequently, the Board has filed notice of intention to appoint administrators to HPAS, Style Group Holdings Limited and Style Group UK Limited in Court today.Unless financial circumstances change, and in accordance with statutory requirements, the board of these three companies intends to appoint administrators within 10 business days.Further announcements will be made as and when appropriate.You can read the original statement here:Additionally, a text message reportedly from the CEO confirms to employees that the business will be put into administration and that there will be a Teams call on Monday at 2:00 PM, at which additional details will probably be disclosed. The way that the intention to appoint administrators was communicated to the personnel has already drawn criticism.A analysis on how the biggest window and door installer dropped from a £250 million valuation to nothing in just six years will one day be conducted. However, employees' top concern right now is whether they will get paid for the work they have completed. Homeowners will be worried about paid deposits, unfinished repairs, and work that needs to be done. Suppliers will be concerned about what will happen to their current inventory and if they will be reimbursed.

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Safestyle UK Goes Into Administration

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