The number of company liquidations and personal insolvencies in England and Wales has decreased, according to recent figures.

Findings published by The Insolvency Service reveal that compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations have fallen to 3,619 in the first quarter of 2013. This is a 5.3% decrease on the previous quarter and is 15.8% less than the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, there were 935 corporate insolvencies in Q1 of 2013, a decrease of 27.5% on the same period a year ago. This comprises:

• 235 receiverships
• 557 administrations
• 142 company voluntary arrangements

What’s more, the number of personal insolvency cases also reduced to 25,006 which is a 12.9% decrease from the same period in 2012. This includes:

• 6,663 people declaring bankruptcy
• 7,219 taking up Debt Relief Orders (DROs)
• 11,124 entering Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs)

The number of DROs is higher than total bankruptcies for Q3 but bankruptcy orders have been lower than IVAs for the last eight quarters.

What is the long-term perspective?

In the 12 months ending Q1 in 2013, 1 in 154 active companies went into liquidation. This is down from 1 in 144 the previous quarter and remains low in contrast to the average 1.2% seen over the past 25 years.

From January- March this year, there were 2.6 million active registered companies compared to only 900,000 in the early 1990’s.

Joanna Elson OBE, Chief Executive of the Money Advice Trust, argued that the rate of insolvencies has been declining since 2010 however, that’s because many people simply can’t afford to go bankrupt.

She said: “Getting the £700 (£525 for the deposit plus £175 for the court fee) together to petition for bankruptcy is not easy for people already struggling with debts. The result is that people are often left to drift in a financial black hole where they can’t afford to repay their debts, can’t afford bankruptcy, and have no other way out.

Jonathan Munnery, Director of Real Business Recovery, added: “Times are tough for many businesses however, the overall reduction in company liquidations is positive. We must remain realistic though. Things may look like they are getting better but UK businesses still have many challenges to conquer.”

Rangers owner Craig Whyte has sensationally admitted that the club could soon be in administration if they fail to pay a huge £40million tax bill.

The new man at the helm at the Ibrox Stadium has recently stated in a press conference that the club are “preparing for a doomsday scenario” if they fail to pay an outstanding £40million tax bill. There are a few different things that they could look into, one of which is factoring. Then there are the a few other routes that they could look into. For example they could look at trying to get an outside investor in who would be able to take on the debt so that it is no longer Rangers’ fault.

They could also look into getting a CVA, or a company voluntary agreement. This is where they agree to repay their debts over a period of time to the people, or company that they owe it too.

On top of these there are many other different things that they could do to sort out their debt, but the one thing that they don’t want is someone who comes in with the sole ambition of destroying the club or essentially, asset stripping it. This basically means, selling off the players, the grounds, the stadium, just absolutely everything that they can make money on and the land is then sold for residential or commercial use.

There are plenty of examples of real business recovery out there and Rangers will be a fine example if they do manage to win this battle with HMRC.

A football club in Northamptonshire is clinging to hope that its future will be saved if creditors agree to the possibility of implementing a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA).

Rushden and Diamonds Football Club in Nene Park in Irthlingborough is in financial crisis but Steve Beasant, the chief executive officer, is confident the club will be accepted into the Southern League Premier Division after exploring the option of applying a CVA.

The move will see parties repaid some or all of their debts over an agreed period of time. The deadline for the club to meet the Southern League’s entry conditions is at midnight tonight but if no CVA is agreed the club will be liquidated.

Mr Beasant said: “The Southern League will accommodate us. If I speak to them before close of play at the end of the week, they will welcome us.

“I would like to think the opportunity is there. It is down to the support of creditors.”

The latest development comes after the football club’s withdrawal of an appeal against expulsion from the Football Conference, after Japanese investors pulled out of a takeover deal on Sunday.

At Real Business Recovery we are real people with real understanding and real solutions, so let us help you form a legal CVA to repay your creditors over a five year period. We specialise in CVAs so take the first step today and just pick up the phone for free independent, confidential advice on CVA and deal with those nasty creditor threats as well as improve cash flow quickly.

Real Business Recovery also offers advice on all types of business insolvency, from receivership to compulsory liquidation  helping you decide which option is the best for you and your business if you’re facing financial difficulties.

Citri, a specialist mortgage and protection firm based in York, has been placed into liquidation.

The financial planning company, which offers advice to all consumers, will be put into liquidation on 4^th July.

A liquidator has not yet been appointed but reports claim the corporate recovery and insolvency firm Begbies Traynor will be chosen following the collapse of a rescue deal.

The plan to save the company would have meant it would have been placed into administration but instead it will enter liquidation. A third party was looking to buy part of or all of Citri but nothing came to fruition.

A plan had been made to transfer all 138 of Citri’s advisors to Openwork, the UK’s largest multi-tie mortgage and financial advice network comprising more than 2,000 financial advisers. However, the deal fell through.

At the time Openwork said it was in talks with the North-East firm to look for ways its advisors could continue to trade but whether or not the firm was looking to rescue Citri is not known.

It is reported a number of advisors have contact Mortgage Strategy, the financial trade website dedicated to the mortgage intermediary, saying they are still owed thousands of pounds in outstanding commission.

It is believed all secured creditors have been paid. Preferential creditors need to be paid before assessing whether there are funds left for unsecured creditors, such as the advisers.

A number of former Citri advisers have reportedly received emails from the network reassuring them that they will be paid for business placed through its wealth management arm, Citri Wealth Management but the situation regarding commission owed from its financial arm Citri Financial Planning is not yet known.

Real Business Recovery specialise in helping companies, partnerships and sole traders who are struggling to cope with on-going debt issues and the potential of business bankruptcy.

Whether it is creditors voluntary liquidation, members voluntary liquidation, or compulsory liquidation you need; ask our friendly team of experts to help.

Recently the Insolvency Service forced business liquidation on Travel Market and Decode Car Hire which were running websites that purported to have a worldwide search engine to get the best deals on car hires. 

Mass complaints from consumers led to an investigation which resulted in both companies being bankrupted on the grounds of public interest. Complaints lodged against the company spoke of consumers paying upfront for car hire only to be awarded a voucher that was unredeemable. 

When consumers presented the vouchers to the individual car hire lots they were told that no payment had been made by either Decode or Travel Market. After trying unsuccessfully to obtain a refund, consumer complaints began flooding in. 

To compound the matter even further, both companies no longer operated at the registered addresses and attempts to contact them were likewise unsuccessful. After an investigation, it was found that the business was in fact being run from Latvia. 

The Insolvency Service’s company investigations supervisor, Chris Mayhew, stated that both businesses were actually operated as fronts for questionable offshore business activities. This is one of the leading reasons for forced business liquidation in the UK. 

Any company that tries to defraud the public will quickly learn how serious the UK is in winding up businesses in the public’s best interest. Whilst there may be no defense against wrongful activities, there could be times when false accusations and fraudulent claims can lead to being placed under scrutiny by the Insolvency Service. 

If any business believes that it has been unjustly accused, rather than face forced liquidation it would be wise to seek counsel from an insolvency solicitor. However, if a business is out to deceive the public then penalties in the UK are strict leading up to bankruptcy and perhaps even criminal prosecution.

General Motors, the struggling American automotive manufacturer that’s since returned to financial health, is continuing to cause financial problems. The ‘Old GM’ branch of the company, which for a reasonable amount of time has been considered a remnant of previous business liquidation, is being sued by Toyota Motor Corporation due to a twenty-five year failed research partnership.

Toyota claims that it spent close to three decades and hundreds of millions of dollars to develop the Vibe – a compact car that would be manufactured and sold by GM before the company’s liquidation proceedings. Unfortunately, the car itself was scrapped in 2009 due to the cost of production and the ongoing brand redevelopment and rethinking that General Motors was involved in.

Today, the project is one of several automotive blunders that remain unaccounted for – a gap in the otherwise successful partnerships between American automakers and large Japanese firms. With an important supporting presence from makes such as Pontiac and Dodge, Toyota and other Japanese automotive manufacturers have been able to break into a market that was once entirely domestic.

However, this project obviously isn’t one of them. As Toyota suits up to sue Motors Liquidation – a new company responsible for GM’s holdings, we may see one of the first major splits between a car manufacturer from Japan and one from the United States.

Bowmans NI Ltd – a window and glass products manufacturer based in Northern Ireland – entered a company voluntary arrangement in late November after seeing its debts spiral out of control. Within a single week it was forced to leave the agreement after realising that while manageable, its debts in comparison to operating costs made it close to impossible to completely repay its creditors.

It’s one of many such cases throughout the UK, in which a manufacturing company has been forced to forego financial restructuring due to the extent of its debts. Thousands of manufacturers based in the United Kingdom have closed down over the past decade, citing the increased costs of operation and the often large amounts of debt that they’re forced to carry as reasons for an insolvency.

For Bowmans, the entry and exit from a company voluntary arrangement has cost over thirty jobs for individuals in Banbridge, many of whom may receive little in the way of compensation. It’s an alarmingly common story throughout the UK, although it is in some cases avoidable. Through the use of CVAs and other financial restructuring procedures, insolvency can occasionally be avoided.

Bankruptcy is all about statistics, many of them quite shocking, and another has been revealed this week. Official reports have shown that more than 1,100 businesses collapsed every working day last year, the highest level since Office for National Statistics records began a decade ago.

The figures equate to almost one in eight businesses being closed down over the year, with 279,000 firms going under in total.

With each firm employing an average of four to five people, that means around 1.25million people lost their jobs due to the collapse of their employer.

Jane Bennett, head of campaigns at the Forum of Private Business, said: “Many veteran business owners well into their 60s have told us that they have never known such difficult trading conditions. We are by no means out of the woods yet. Businesses are just as vulnerable to failure coming out of a recession as they are during one.”

The worst-hit sectors of business were construction, transport, storage, accommodation, food, information, communication, business administration and support services.

Prue Watson, from the Federation of Small Business, said: “For small businesses, 2009 was an incredibly tough year. Those that did survive faced tough conditions with refusals for loans and overdrafts at a high, big business debtors paying up to 120 days late and a lethal cocktail of a decrease in trade and an increase in costs.”

When an Edinburgh private school went into receivership, parents and staff banded together to try and bring it back to financial health. Parents and supporters of St Margaret’s Girls School have spent the last three weeks raising funds to bring the school to profitability, but a Facebook-based fraudster may have rendered the efforts worthless.

After launching campaigns to save the school using social networking website Facebook, parents realised that many people were donating to an alternate bank account. A fraudster using the name Mark Emlick reportedly set up a false bank account, deceptively luring donations and claiming to be affiliated with the school.

St Margaret’s has been operating at a £500,000 deficit for the last few years. Administrators are worried that the school could permanently close following recent business liquidation, but parents and ex-pupils are desperately fighting to save the school. Almost 400 students will be forced into different schools should the fundraising efforts fail.

Facebook’s lawyers are currently viewing the case, as are representatives of the school’s legal team. Parents plan to continue their fundraising efforts, aiming to keep St Margaret’s open throughout the school year and piece together a long-term plan within the coming months.

Premier League football fans have spent the last six months in uncertainty, wondering whether former Premier League team Portsmouth FC will escape its £138 million debt burden. The past few months have been particularly troubling for Portsmouth fans, with an additional £10 million of unpaid debts and claims against the club coming to light, limiting its chances at re-entering the Premier League.

However, a new company voluntary arrangement deal (CVA) could see Portsmouth piece together a long-term debt relief plan and regain its spot in UK football. The club is expected to enter a company voluntary arrangement deal at some point in June, limiting its total debt obligations and creating a long-term payment plan for creditors.

The club’s insolvency has attracted both criticism and sympathy from investment experts, who have described the well-known football club’s financial management strategy as ‘disastrous.’ In order to enter the CVA over 75% of the club’s creditors – ranked by ownership value – would need to approve.

By using a combined CVA and liquidation plan, the club plans to offer greater returns to its creditors than a standard insolvency. Portsmouth’s management team have stressed that the CVA is the best long-term option for the club, claiming that their focus is not just on escaping debt but ensuring a stable future for the Football League team.