Contacting an insolvency practitioner can feel like the last resort but if your business is facing insolvency, early advice is invaluable.

Whether you’re facing cashflow issues, fending off creditors, struggling to obtain credit, exceeding overdraft limits, missing tax payments or dipping into personal finances to stay afloat, an experienced professional can help you clarify the situation your business is in and work with you to map out the best route forward. Crucially, sound advice will also position you to start taking necessary action immediately.

Business directors have a legal responsibility to make sure their company remains solvent while creditors and stakeholders need to manage their exposure to losses.

Whatever your business and wherever you’re located, our experienced team at Evelyn Partners is here to help you.

What to expect when you contact us about corporate insolvency

Our team is highly experienced, qualified and sympathetic. When you get in touch with us, we’ll move quickly to understand your history, review your accounts and learn from your management team about the issues you’re facing.

• Initially we need to establish if your company is insolvent or close to it
• We’ll then offer detailed and practical recommendations based on in-depth factfinding and analysis to come up with sensible, well-rounded solutions
• Insolvency isn’t the only option. We’ll look at all avenues, with a focus on minimising costs and maximising recoveries to help satisfy creditors and get you back on the right financial track
• Where appropriate we can work with our transactions team to market a business for sale and help negotiate the right deal for the best price

What are the options if my company is insolvent?

If your company can’t pay its outgoings or debts on time, it is considered insolvent. But this doesn’t necessarily mean the end for your business. There are a number of different options for insolvent companies and by seeking professional advice quickly, you’ll increase the chances of rescuing your business. As a director, you can:

• Explore opportunities to save your company or the business within your company
• Seek a ‘white knight’ who may be able to save the company without the need for insolvency
• Try to reach an informal agreement with your creditors
• Enter into a company voluntary arrangement, which is a legally binding arrangement to pay your creditors over a fixed term
• Enter into a restructuring plan if you are an eligible larger company. These were introduced in 2021 and are a formal arrangement between your company and your creditors or shareholders
• Put the company into administration. Which may mean the business can survive through an organised accelerated sale process which protects the directors’ position, some or all of the staff and that of the creditors as well

• We have a team of experienced practitioners who have many years’ experience of all of the above procedures and will look to give the most practical and commercial solution to the problem
• Evelyn Partners is a top 10 UK accountancy firm, as ranked by Accountancy Age (source Accountancy Age, 2021).
• We are a member of R3, the association of business recovery professionals
• We are representatives on the Charity Commission Interim Manager and Proceeds of Crime receiverships (POCA) panels