How do you decide if this is an Administration or something else?

The first thing we do as proposed administrators is to meet you and understand why the business is in trouble and explain to you what the possible outcomes could be.

We may decide that after meeting you that a liquidation or a company voluntary arrangement is more appropriate.

If the conclusion is that administration is appropriate, the next step is an information gathering exercise to completely understand the full financial picture. This may include having all of the assets valued by an agent.

You may also need to prepare cash flow forecasts.

We will also establish if there is a valid debenture in place as this may affect the outcome. In some cases where the bank debt is large the debenture holder will prefer to use their own choice of Administrator.

Once we have all of the information

At this stage we will agree with you a target date to go into administration and a plan of action once we are appointed. This outcome may be a pre-pack sale, ongoing trading whilst the business is sold or a gradual wind down and disposal of the assets.

Once the assets or business has been sold we then usually agree creditor claims, pay them a dividend and close the case. Typically, an Administration lasts for 12 months but can last for up to two years.

If the matter is likely to go on for longer than that, for example due to litigation, we may convert the administration to a liquidation. There is no maximum time period for a liquidation.

David Kirk did exactly what he said he would. I’d be lost without Administration. Without David, we would have gone bankrupt by now. Really good

Sophie M