It might not seem like it but we’re only a couple of weeks away from the end of Summer.
While you think “well how did I miss it?” – take a little more time to yourself and catch up on all the latest interesting and important business and insolvency news stories you might have missed from the past week!
If you want to know why the number of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) payers has quadrupled in 30 years; why the future looks bleak for CGT and BADR; why June saw the third highest monthly total of business insolvencies in 24 years and why a Time To Pay agreement could be the best solution to HMRC debts – you can read all these stories and more at our advice centre page.
Lycamobile
The telecoms company that sells pay-as-you-go sim cards popular with workers calling overseas has been issued with a winding-up petition by HMRC for £51m of unpaid VAT.
Lycamobile was founded by Allirajah Subaskaran in 2006 and generated over £145 million in revenue in 2022 but is now loss making and has repeatedly filed its accounts late with questions raised by auditors.
The company’s latest auditor said in June it could not sign off the latest accounts because it had “not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion”.
Petitions were also served against sister companies Lycatel Services Ltd and Lycamoney Financial Services Ltd which are all owned by the business.
The Floor Room
A carpet and flooring specialist has gone into administration as a knock-on casualty of Carpetright’s administration earlier this month.
The Floor Room was a subsidiary of Nestware Holdings which owned Carpetright and which it has “historically been operationally reliant upon”.
Following this move, The Floor Room’s directors had “exhausted options to secure further funding or a potential sale of the business and assets.”
As a result the business is being wound down with the loss of 201 positions from their 34 John Lewis concessions, stand-alone London store and online storefront.
They also confirmed that due to the administration they would be unable to fulfil any existing outstanding customer orders.
The intellectual property of Carpetright was bought out of administration by Tapi along with two warehouses and a fifth of their stores but The Floor Room was not part of this deal.
Northampton Town FC
A League One football club has apologised to fans after receiving a compulsory strike-off notice from Companies House.
Northampton Town said the warning had been received because of an internal administrative issue and that there had been a delay in uploading forms for its confirmation statement “due to the large number of shareholders in the club”.
They confirmed that they had spoken to Companies House which said it would: “list the paperwork imminently as they work through their backlog. The required paperwork was submitted in a timely fashion which will be reflected once updated on the system.”
Northampton Town Supporters’ Trust said the issue could be easily remedied adding: “This should not have been allowed to arise in the first place. We are contacting the club for an explanation.”
Johnson Matthey
A Billingham battery business has ceased trading after its Australian parent company put it into administration two years after acquiring the company.
EV Metals Group purchased Johnson Matthey’s Battery Materials business for £50 million in 2022 including the Billingham research centre, plant and laboratories.
EV Metals UK employed 21 workers who were made redundant but they had been unable to access the site for nearly 10 months as the company had failed to keep up with rent payments to landlords and former site owners Johnson Matthey.
Staff confirmed they had also been paid late on several occasions.
A statement from the business said: “The decision to voluntarily place EVM UK into administration follows a comprehensive review of strategy undertaken by the company in December 2023.
“The new strategy led to the development of a business model and plan to commercialise the UK assets by offering high quality batter materials testing and technology development services to customers in the UK, Europe and the USA. Whilst progress has been made to advance customer engagement and funding initiatives, challenging market conditions have made it difficult to implement the plan within an acceptable time frame.
“Directors of EVM UK will work with administrators to deliver the best outcome possible for the business, its employees and stakeholders.”
Vehicle Repowering Solutions
A company that specialises in converting London taxis to run on cheaper Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) has gone into administration and ceased trading.
Vehicle Repowering Solutions converted hundreds of vehicles in London and across the UK but the closure has left many drivers uncertain with issues outstanding around warranties, refunds and ongoing conversions unresolved.
Directors confirmed that a combination of supply chain disruptions, escalating costs and dwindling support from local authorities had exacerbated existing cash flow problems and left them no room to manoeuvre.
Additionally the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) issued a statement that said the closure follows a recent incident where four conversions completed by VRS had been fitted with unapproved third-generation systems, misrepresenting Transport For London approved second-generation systems.
Those drivers now seeking compensation will have limited recourse.
New Engineering
A Midlands-based engineering company has gone into administration.
New Engineering operated from sites in Worcester, Derby and Kidderminster and were formed when the assets of two other companies – Neos Superform and Neos Composite Solutions – were packaged into a new entity in March 2023.
The company employed 120 staff who supplied super-formed aluminium and magnesium alloy components to major OEM customers in the rail, aerospace and automotive markets.
A statement from the business said: “New Engineering has been experiencing significant cash pressures in recent months, exacerbated by project delays, cost inflation and limited availability of trade credit.”
Administrators still remain hopeful of being able to sell the business as a going concern.
BFG Employment
An Ilkeston business support services company has gone into administration and ceased trading with the loss of 40 positions last week.
BFG Employment was formed in 2020 and operated mainly in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Revolution Bars – CCCD
The Vodka-themed bar chain Revolution has secured the approval of the High Court to approve a restructuring plan after successfully arguing that it was needed to save the business from falling into an insolvent administration.
Revolution Bars Limited, a subsidiary of Revolution Bars Group plc which also owns the Revolucion de Cuba and Peach Pubs brands and told the court it was “heavily loss-making” and “deeply unprofitable”.
Lawyers said Revolution was reliant on funding from the group in order to survive and was forecast to “run out of cash” in August.
At the hearing, Mr Justice Richards approved the plan concluding it was “not unfair” to creditors, landlords and shareholders. The plan will allow them to obtain new financing, extend the time to repay debt to HMRC and be able to “right size” a portfolio of leases in order to create a sustainable business.
14 of Revolutions most profitable 48 sites would be retained while 18 would be declared economically unviable and probably closed.
The judge decided that the restructuring would deliver a better return to creditors than a disorderly insolvency.
Since the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 became law, courts now have the power to impose a binding solution on creditors of a business if it is in the best financial interests of the majority.
H Parkinson Haulage
A Preston-based haulage firm that has been operating since the 1950s has gone into administration.
H Parkinson Haulage was a family-run business that had a licence to operate 85 HGVs and 160 trailers from six bases in North West England and one in Wales.
A statement from the directors said: “After 67 years of trading, it is unfortunate that shifting market conditions have led to H Parkinson Haulage having to close down.
“Due to unsustainable financial pressure including property rents and insurance costs, it has unfortunately become unviable for the company to continue trading.”
Latham’s of Broughton
A bakers in Preston that has been operating for over 50 years is closing and going into voluntary liquidation.
Latham’s of Broughton made cakes and other bakery items for local supermarket chain Booths for many years but a statement from directors confirmed that recent events had meant they had to make some tough decisions.
They confirmed that a repayment plan with HMRC had been terminated early by the revenue. “We had a five year repayment agreement but they decided to change that and left us needing to find a figure north of £500,000 very quickly.
“We couldn’t do that as a business and so sadly (liquidation) is our only choice now. I’m hopeful that there’s a way a new bakehouse will take over here and we’ll be able to keep some of the jobs because there’s a lot of people who have worked very hard on this business over the years.”
They also said that rapid price-rises in wheat and butter had also contributed to the firm’s financial situation.
While the end of the holidays slowly appears on the horizon, this is still the ideal opportunity to use this time constructively and plan ahead for the rest of 2024.
Get in touch with us today to arrange your free initial consultation with one of our expert advisors at a convenient time for you.
They will be able to let you know what options you have based on your financial situation and how you can make the changes to improve your prospects in the short, medium and longer terms.