Recovery/Turnaround
Our consultants and Insolvency Team are able to advise on all aspects of business rescue and restructuring and deal with all types of corporate insolvency. There are many decisions to take and changes to make when running a business and financial difficulties quite often occur as a result of these.
When a company director or officer realises the company is in financial difficulty they should act immediately. There may be options available to the company in the early stages of its financial crisis, which could be lost by any delay.
Sometimes one division or part of a company's business may be profitable and the other part(s) unprofitable, with the unprofitable part(s) pulling the company towards or into insolvency. If it is not possible to simply close the unprofitable part(s) because of ongoing commitments for example, under leases, it may be possible to restructure the company by using a scheme of restructuring under section 110 Insolvency 1986.
If a company is insolvent i.e. unable to pay its debts as and when they fall due and/or has more liabilities than assets, the director should seek advice from an Insolvency Practitioner because if they allow the company to continue to trade, the director could later be held to be personally liable for its losses and could also be disqualified from acting as a director or being involved in the promotion, formation or management of any other company for a period of up to 15 years. There are other grounds on which directors of insolvent companies could subsequently face prosecution as a result of their conduct and it is important for directors to be fully aware of their legal responsibilities and the penalties they may face in the event that their conduct falls short of legal requirement and expectation.
Sterling Ford also specialises in taking over cases previously handled by other firms and has managed to make significant recoveries where others have failed. In one case the firm made legal history in having a winding up order rescinded after the company, which had been the subject of a CVA, had been wound up on the petition of its former supervisor. The company today is a successful and solvent trading concern. In others, we have recovered large sums for creditors in cases where other practitioners have failed.