Apply to liquidate your company, whether you have
debts or not
Once you have put your company into liquidation it is a chance to start again.
Remember that a failure of a limited company does not mean that you are a failure. The business itself can still have a future
As long as you have not done anything fraudulent, or have wilfully neglected or made the creditors situation worse you do not have much to worry about.
In a liquidation your staff (and this could include you if you are a legitimate employee) will be paid redundancy by the government.
We will meet with you for no charge and will explain your options and we will set out all our fees in writing. All we need from you is as much financial information that you can put together so we can assess the situation.
As soon as you appoint us you no longer need to talk to your creditors! We will take all of the pressure off. We will write to them and inform them that the company is to go into liquidation and ask them to send a proof of debt.
There are various forms and notices that we will need to send to HMRC, Creditors, Companies House, The Insolvency Service, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and any regulators that you may be covered by.
The directors then ask a licensed insolvency practitioner to seek a decision from the creditors and the shareholders as soon as possible (within 14-21 days) to put the company into liquidation with the liquidator appointed by the creditors.
If your company has stock, owns a van, kitchen equipment, company car, furniture or computers then we can dispose of these assets and use the proceeds to pay creditors and our fees.
If the company is owed any money then we will do everything we can to get the money back. As liquidators we are officers of the court and can bring pressure to bear on those who owe
The formal process of closing a company is liquidation, but there are other ways. Liquidation may not be necessary. Company strike off—dissolution—may be an option.
Company strike off—or dissolution—is an informal process that removes a company from Companies House’s register. Directors submit a DS01 form and pay the fee. The company will be struck off the register if no one objects to the Gazette notice. It ceases to exist legally once removed from the register. However, it is not suitable for all companies or situations.
Dissolution is for companies that are no longer needed by directors/shareholders and have no assets or liabilities.
If an insolvent company tries to strike off, a creditor will object, stopping the process and keeping the company alive. Creditors should prevent your company from being struck off if it has debts, as it is difficult to recover the money owed without a lengthy and complicated process to reinstate the company.
If your company’s assets, including bank accounts, are struck off, the Crown owns them. Thus, liquidation is the best way to wind down a business with debts or assets.
The simple answer is no. Only a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner can liquidate your company. The liquidator has to assess the liabilities and fairly distribute any surplus monies after assets have been sold and/or money collected. The liquidator also has a duty to investigate the actions of the directors leading up to the insolvency to check if there has been wrongdoing. On the whole liquidation is highly regulated and there are no short cuts.
Once the company is “in liquidation” the directors have to provide all of the company’s books and records to the liquidator. After this there is a creditors’ meeting which a director must attend. After that, very little else usually.
You can be a director of as many companies as you want at once. The name of your new company cannot be the same as or similar to the name of the old company if you were a director of a liquidated company. This will clear up any ambiguity for the old company’s creditors.
Calling this “passing off” (under section 216 Insolvency Act 1986). If the new company goes into liquidation, the director may face criminal charges or be held liable for all of the debts of the company. So the best recommendation is to seek professional guidance.
The name may be purchased through administration, or the liquidator may agree to sell the name and provide evidence to support this in a court application. Any court application, though, must provide evidence as to why the provisions of section 216 shouldn’t apply to you. Not always simple. Keep in mind that you would have to pay a fair price if you were to purchase the company. A chartered surveyor or asset valuer must have valued the company.
We can guide you through this possible minefield.
Yes! Don’t worry, you can be a director of another company (remember s216 above). But always act properly, don’t take chances and think you are a smarter than the law. You aren’t, lots of people think they are and end up in personal financial trouble. Call us now, ask all the questions you want for free. Bear in mind that if you set up a new company and owed HMRC a significant amount in VAT in the liquidated company then they may well ask for a VAT deposit. Call now for advice on 0845 519 4930.