Adjournment Circumstances
Ordinarily, courts need an objective rationale for adjourning a winding up petition.
These could be:
- time to arrange funding
- to propose a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) or Time To Pay Arrangement
- to appoint an administrator or liquidate voluntarily
Extra funding
Securing finance quickly, is a priority when aiming for the dismissal of a winding up petition. If the debt is paid in full before it is publicised, no one will know about the petition and it will be dismissed. You may have to pay the petitioning creditor’s costs too.
We can advise you on sourcing additional funding and put you in direct touch with our lending partners straight away, to stop the winding up petition. Possible funding could be invoice finance or asset-based lending, but our partners have access to a wide range of funding options and are used to dealing with urgent situations.
How we can help with extra time for a voluntary arrangement
A Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) allows the debtor company to potentially write off a proportion of debts. If it is made clear to a court that the prospect of repayment is realistic but more time is required, then adjournment may be permitted. We can help you to collate evidence to persuade the court that adjournment would be the optimum way forward. We can request adjournment for a CVA and we will liaise with the petitioning creditor or its representative, including HMRC when involved, with a view to obtaining agreement to an adjournment where possible:-
A Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA)
In simple terms, a CVA is a process of insolvency that is based on business rescue. Unsecured debts, to HMRC and trade creditors, can be paid off usually within the terms of the CVA in 3 to 5 years. Other timescales are possible. It is an agreement between your company and your creditors and is a common way to stop winding up petitions. It is useful if your payment ability has been affected by cash-flow issues.
Again, we can advise you further on how this process works and our ICAEW licensed insolvency practitioners are qualified and authorised, to carry out CVAs.
Time To Pay Arrangement
In certain circumstances it may not be necessary to have a formal voluntary arrangement. It may be that a Time To Pay arrangement (different to a CVA) can be put in place with the HMRC.
Company Administration
If and when an insolvency practitioner is appointed as an administrator in Company Administration, legal action will pause. An administrator basically takes control of your company to repay debts, via asset sales or use of a CVA. The Court would be informed of this action and a moratorium is enacted, whilst the administrator formulates a plan - such as pre-pack administration. We can offer you more information on this action.
Time matters
We cannot stress this enough: time is of the essence. The time frame is very tight when a winding up petition is instigated. Through the securing of an winding up petition adjournment, you will gain valuable time to evaluate the situation by employing objective and experienced professionals to assess the situation.
What to do next
The temptation for any company director served with a winding up petition, often is to panic. But with expert advice from Greenfield Recovery, dismissal of a winding up petition may be possible.
If you would like advice about a winding up petition or compulsory liquidation, please do get in touch with our team of experts today 0121 201 1720. Advice is free and there is no obligation.
