Landlords have been experiencing a rough time of late with both the introduction of the Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery provisions and court rulings on various issues surrounding landlords and tenants.

It is a common occurrence that a liquidator will disclaim a lease under section 178 Insolvency Act 1986. A disclaimer does not prohibit a landlord pursuing any guarantors (who remain liable) but what about the landlord’s liabilities for business rates? This question formed the basis of the latest reported case from The High Court in Schroder Exempt Property Unit Trust and another v Birmingham City Council [2014] EWHC 2207.Continue reading

Have you every wondered what the point of the company Christmas party is?

When you get right down to it most of us put on a ‘do’ every year but is it actually appreciated? Or are we just doing it out of duty? There is a sense of tradition in the office party I suppose. Whether it is a meal and a disco at a hotel, a black tie formal affair, or a few drinks and a buffet in the office we tend to see it as part of the Christmas cavalcade.

Of course we want to say thank you to the staff for their hard work and throwing a little celebration around the Christmas period is a great way to do this. But how often do we throw money and resources at this annual event only to wonder if anyone actually wanted it? Here are some suggestions to mix things up and maybe avoid a little bit of the financial sting over the festive season.Continue reading

There is an old saying ‘prevention is better than cure’ and it is one that rings very true for the financial stability of your business.

At Marshman Price we see businesses of all sizes in various stages of financial difficulty and it is never easy to pinpoint a particular time when things started to go wrong. A business is a complex animal no matter what the size; and problems are caused by a chain of events not a single factor. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution and if you have looked through our website, you will see we don’t try to offer one.Continue reading

We all know that prompt payment of your outstanding invoices is key to maintaining solid cash flow.

I think we are all also aware of what happens when our outstanding invoices don’t resolve into income as expected. At best this costs time and money in chasing and credit control, and at worst it can cause severe cash flow and even long term financial issues.Continue reading

You may be surprised to learn that UK insolvency legislation is ranked 7^th best in the world.  It is even higher than the bankruptcy provisions used by our neighbours across the water in the USA.  Included in the UK legislation are personal insolvency provisions which are supposedly designed to allow an individual to address their debt problems and effectively start afresh.

The recent insolvency statistics show bankruptcies are down in quarter 2 (as compared to Q1) to 5,452 bankruptcy orders. This represents 5 people in every 10,000 of the UK population are going bankrupt.  However, a recent report has suggested approximately 315,000 people are trapped in a wilderness of debt enforcement, demands and, quite frankly, a miserable existence because they cannot afford the £525 it costs to make themselves bankrupt.Continue reading

“If you fail to plan then plan to fail”. A well-known phrase that everyone in business should have hanging in a prominent place as a reminder that operating a business carries risk as well as reward.

Nobody takes that brave leap into being self employed thinking their business will fail within the first two years. However, many start ups find themselves in difficulties within this time frame, generally as a direct result of a failure to plan. I appreciate I will not win many friends by saying this but the business acumen in this Country is poor and the general knowledge required absent. If I had a pound for every time a director referred to the assets of a limited company as his assets when they are actually company property.Continue reading

It seems everyone enjoys a good quiz so, question 1. Here are the names of some well known celebrities:

Gary Barlow

Jimmy Carr

Chris Moyles

Gabby Logan

What do they have in common?

The answer? They have all been accused by HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) of entering into tax evasion schemes and could face substantial bills. It is understood Gary Barlow could be facing as much as £20 million! Now, before any of you start criticising them you need to consider the bigger picture.Continue reading

The instant you feel uncomfortable about the financial situation of your business, ask for help – that’s the unbiased advice from Northampton-based business rescue and insolvency experts, Marshman Price.

Why? Because there are at least 3 ways a business can be given time to restructure that should benefit everyone concerned – from the company’s shareholders and directors, to its customers, workforce and creditors.Continue reading