As this unprecedented crisis affects us all personally and professionally, we wanted to send out a brief message to our friends and colleagues.

Liquidation is the final chapter for many businesses. It may sound daunting, but the systems are designed to make the process as straightforward as possible. In this article, we’ll take a look at the liquidation process and the typical timelines.

Company directors need to be aware that their actions can come back to bite them even after they have wound up their business!

In the latest figures published by the Insolvency Service, 1,242 directors were disqualified for misconduct. The average ban is around 5 years, but during 2018/19, 70 people received bans of between 11 and 15 years.

As well-known construction company Pochin has gone into administration - we saw the immediate fall out and the wide-spread damaging effects.

With the annual increase in minimum wage, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that more and more companies are being caught underpaying their staff.

In recent years HMRC has been actively seeking out hearings involving breaches of the National Minimum Wage Act. These are part of a nationwide inspection campaign being run by the Government to enforce the national minimum wage. As a result, HMRC identified a record 15.6 million underpayments in 2018. This high-profile case has helped clear away some of the confusion around minimum wage deduction laws.

If you are in a position where cash flow can no longer support your business, it may be time to consider liquidation. In today’s turbulent world, there is little stigma attached to a company reaching this stage. External forces are complex and unpredictable, and no organisation is immune to the risk.

When there is a dispute at the heart of a company, it can be confusing, traumatic, and difficult to resolve. One party wants to abandon ship, the other is desperate to continue.

If one director in a 50/50 shareholding wants to liquidate and the other does not, stalemate, tensions, and dark clouds quickly follow.

Your company is entering liquidation. All eyes are focused upon the situation, and everybody has questions.

All the political and economic indicators tell us that we are probably looking at some turbulent trading times over the next two or three years, with the uncertainties regarding Brexit and the possibility of a General Election (with or without a General Strike!)