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Weekly articles on all the important news right here

Top 5 Solutions for Dealing with HMRC Winding-up Petitions

By admin | January 28, 2013

  In June 2010, we posted an article explaining how to get winding up petitions dismissed and withdrawn and another, five months later, revealing how HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was responsible for issuing the vast majority of winding up petitions in Britain.

Olympics 2012 Builder’s CVA is Attempt to Hide Insolvency

By admin | December 14, 2012

A construction firm that helped build the London 2012 athletes’ village has been forced to file for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), just three months after the Olympics.

Poor Policing Leaves HMRC Exposed

By admin | December 14, 2012

I strongly disagree with the Insolvency Service’s recent claim the organisation ‘…does not hesitate to punish irresponsible directors.’

Informal Corporate Insolvency Debt Costs Creditors £5bn Every Year

By admin | December 6, 2012

An investigation into millions of collapsed British companies has found that every year, around £5bn of unpaid ‘hidden debt’ is left behind by businesses that close down without going through any formal insolvency procedure.

Insolvency Regulation in Desperate Need of a Revamp

By admin | November 29, 2012

In July 2010, I called for an urgent review of insolvency regulation, and more than two years later there is little evidence to suggest much has changed.

Comet Administration a Wakeup Call for Zombie Companies

By admin | November 29, 2012

In December 2010, I warned that struggling businesses that relied on Christmas trade to maintain solvency were asking for trouble.

Dodgy Football Fat Cats like Peter Ridsdale Must Be Punished

By admin | November 22, 2012

Last month, the Insolvency Service banned football club chairman Peter Ridsdale (pictured) from holding company directorships for seven-and-a-half years. Under Ridsdale’s chairmanship, Cardiff City football club accrued debts exceeding £42m between 2006 and 2010. During the same period, Ridsdale secretly and unlawfully transferred more than £345,000 from Cardiff City into his personal bank account, and…

HMRC Exhausted from Issuing Winding-Up Petitions

By admin | November 22, 2012

Last month’s revelation that HMRC resources are stretched so thinly the tax collector is no longer able to supply insolvency practitioners (IPs) with data, is a sure sign the British economy is bankrupt.

HMRC Targets SMEs, But Ignores Corporate Tax-Dodgers

By admin | June 24, 2011

Restaurateurs and other small business owners are being targeted by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as part of a national crackdown on tax evasion. Over the next few weeks, specialist tax inspection teams will pursue restaurants with intensive sting operations across London, Manchester, Liverpool, Cumbria and parts of and Scotland.

Why Didn’t Insolvency Service Prosecute MG Rover’s Phoenix Four?

By admin | June 14, 2011

The former directors of MG Rover Group (MGRG), who pocketed over £40 million as the company spiralled into administration, should have been punished with lengthy disqualifications forcing them into early retirement and out of business management. Instead, Peter Beale, John Towers, Nick Stephenson and John Edwards – known as the ‘Phoenix Four’ – received bans…