© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

Summer 2013

LLIIQQUUIIDD NNEEWWSS™™

For a Solvent & Insolvent World™

WWWhhhoooeeevvveeerrr SSShhhooouuutttsss ttthhheee LLLooouuudddeeesssttt!!! BBaadd DDeebbttss:: TThhee SSoolluuttiioonnss!!

IInn tthhiiss EEddiittiioonn:: -- LLeett ’’ss GGeett PPoossiittiivvee ~~ IItt ’’ss NNoott AAllll GGlloooomm && DDoooomm!!

-- TThhee AArrcchhbbiisshhoopp,, TThhee BBaannkkeerrss && IInnssoollvveennccyy

-- HHooww SSoocciiaall AArree WWee??

BBoottttoommlleeyy && CCoo ™™ Financial Recovery – Solutions to Insolvency™

Our advice is take advice™

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

WWhhooeevveerr SShhoouuttss tthhee LLoouuddeesstt --- BBaadd DDeebbttss:: TThhee SSoolluuttiioonnss!!

A familiar phrase which actually works. We

at Bottomley & Co™ see the consequences

where businesses haven’t chased in book

debts and run out of money.

1) Our first solution is don’t forget to

send out invoices as soon as the job

is finished or that part of the

contract is complete. If it’s not with

the customer, they’re not going to

pay you.

Insolvency Tip: Overtrading is when a

business rapidly expands and monies don’t

come in quickly enough to fund the costs of

production, so running out of cash, resulting

in a potential insolvency. Post recession this

is a particular risk, so invoice promptly and

chase it up swiftly.

Top Tip: If you are expanding, don’t be

afraid of asking for some money ‘up front’

to cover some production costs.

2) I mentioned contracts above, it is an

extremely important document to

have in place BEFORE work starts

as that governs what you have to do

and what you expect from the

customer. It should include your:

Terms and conditions of business

including when you expect to be paid –

which you can enforce if they fail to pay

and the penalties the customer incurs as

a result of late payment . (Link to

.Gov.uk Late Payment Fees site)

List the identity of your customer. All

too often Bottomley & Co™ sees the

consequences when a business has

failed to trade with the correct customer;

e.g. trade with Joe Blogs but actually

it’s Joe Blogs Limited or you trade with

Acme Trading Company but that is just

a brand name. In reality it’s XYZ

Limited!

Search your customer, check their

identity and risk via the Bankruptcy

Register http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/eiir

and Companies House

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/

Top Tip: As a member of Coventry and

Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, we

use their free credit reporting facility to

check a business’ credit worthiness.

We find that knowing who is being traded

with increases recovery if legal action is

required to recover a debt.

3) Paper Trail; emails, letters,

purchase orders, delivery notes

between you and the customer that

acknowledges what it to be done and

what has been done, ESSENTIAL

evidence to rely upon should there

be a dispute. Therefore make sure

you have a system to record all these

matters.

Insolvency Tip: Liquidators are often told

when collecting book debts “we never

received it, show me the delivery note”. It’s

an avoidance tactic so make sure you have a

signed delivery note or equivalent document.

So if you are a creditor in that liquidation,

you’ll want the Liquidator to maximise

collections to increase prospects for a

dividend to you; without a delivery note,

recovery could be impeded.

4) Retention of Title (ROT) in other

words, the product or service

remains in your ownership until the

customer pays for it.

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

Make sure the ROT clauses are in

your contract or payment terms and

that they are fit for purpose. An off

the shelf wording may not be

appropriate for your business or

product.

Top Tip: If a customer finds a loophole in

the wording, make sure you take advice and

you plug it, so amend your terms. Where

businesses miss out is they fail to inform all

current customers of this changed wording,

so write to them and say “from XX

September 2013 our terms and conditions

are amended to......” But take professional

advice on how to do this practically.

5) Can’t Pay or Won’t Pay? What do

you do?

Top Tip: The sooner you start “shouting”

for the money (but not literally!), the higher

up the queue you are compared to other

businesses with that particular customer.

Pick up the phone and talk to the customer.

If they have problems, (perhaps not of their

own making) discuss the option of staged

payments.

If your communications fall on deaf ears,

instruct a collection agent or debt collection

solicitor. The rules have changed about how

the costs of these agents can be charged, so

you can recover some agent’s costs in the

correct circumstances.

Top Tip: Knowing when to stop? If the

customer has no money to collect then it is

not economic to spend more money in taking

legal action. Therefore researching the

customer’s assets is essential; e.g. a Land

Registry search on property.

Insolvency Tip: Creditors who have been

the first to shout for money are either not on

the creditors’ list when an insolvency is

declared or their balances have been greatly

reduced as a result of taking recovery action.

So who shouts the loudest? The business

which has robust trading procedures in place

which researches, governs and collects the

debt so that the fullest payment is achieved

whatever the situation. Those who have

shouted the loudest will have taken advice

along the way to achieve the optimum result.

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE?

WHAT IS THE WORST CASE SCENARIO?

WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS OF A

RECOVERY IN AN INSOLVENCY?

To read more: Liquid News™ Summer 2012

or

Call me on 01788 523840 or email me at

paul@bottomleyandco.com

By Paul Miles Rogers, Partner at Bottomley & Co™

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

LLeett’’ss ggeett PPoossiittiivvee ~~

IItt’’ss nnoott aallll gglloooomm && ddoooomm!!

One of my gripes is the media talking about

doom and gloom while the success stories

are relegated to the “and finally” slot at the

end of the news report.

So what is positive? Well contrary to

popular myth, insolvency numbers are

continuing to fall and have been doing so

since 2009.

That’s positive because if you use the

previous two recessions as a guide,

insolvency numbers would have peaked in

say 2010/11 or even 2012 and then gradually

fallen over the next few years. What we are

seeing in the national statistics are levels of

insolvencies which one would expect during

a growth period! Fewer insolvencies = more

employment which is good!

So there is no predictability in the

insolvency figures. Why could that be?

Well lenders (including those partly owned

by the State) are often perceived as being

more lenient, perhaps for fear of the public

backlash; this keeps companies going.

If the business owners are receptive to taking

advice, then they are restructuring without

the need for a formal insolvency. It is only

when matters become dire does it appear the

banks “pull the plug”.

HM Revenue & Customs remains willing to

negotiate Time to Pay agreements over

months but not years which staves off formal

insolvencies. The risk I am seeing is an age

old one. When HMRC pressurises, a

business will pay HMRC rather than its

other creditors so the business is effectively

‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’. Ultimately this

can cause the business’s downfall if what is

offered to HMRC is too much and the other

creditors lose patience. Undoubtedly

businesses have survived post-recession by

using Time to Pay enabling them to work

their way out of a hole.

Government initiatives, pumping money

back into the economy, getting businesses to

do things differently, take on new staff,

apply for grants and subsidised loans have

given many the breathing space they needed.

Hot off the press the latest survey findings

reported by the BBC says “UK factories are

‘booming again’”. Exports are the key to

success for the UK. Encouraging and

fostering exporting is a project I am working

on ‘with my other hat on’ as Rugby Branch

Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses.

If you want to know more, ask me how?

How have I been positive?

I say celebrate success, learn from what

went wrong and guard against it

happening again in the future.

By Paul Miles Rogers, Partner at Bottomley & Co™

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

TThhee AArrcchhbbiisshhoopp,, TThhee BBaannkkeerrss &&

IInnssoollvveennccyy..

Whilst the new Archbishop of Canterbury is

spearheading a campaign against the payday

loan provider Wonga, he is taking a rather

different approach to the bankers.

Describing the media fuelled public opinion

desire for bankers’ accountability as “lynch

mobbish” it contrasts with the Church’s

distaste for payday lenders.

So where does the insolvency angle come

into this article you are probably thinking.

Well it’s the “what if” scenario, what if the

government hadn’t staved off a formal

insolvency of Royal Bank of Scotland and

Lloyds Bank by pumping billions of pounds

into these financial institutions. Well both

banks would have gone bust and entered into

formal insolvency like BCCI (a much

smaller bank) a decade before which, if you

will recall, had town and county council’s

monies invested in it. The BBC have several

good articles discussing BCCI; Dividends,

Banks going Bust, further reading).

So how would the bankers have been treated

in a formal insolvency? Well within the first

six months following an insolvency the

insolvency practitioner investigates the

company, and its directors and anyone else

who acted as if they were a director.

Interestingly enough, this last comment can

apply to a shareholder who started taking

management decisions or even creditors who

dictate what the company does prior to the

insolvency. So if a bank went bust now after

receiving state monies, government

ministers who influenced the bank’s

management, could be held accountable.

How are ‘directors’ accountable? this is

governed by the Company Directors’

Disqualification Act 1986. The insolvency

practitioner’s report evidences the

investigation as to the causes and breaches

of the rules in the lead up to and after the

insolvency.

This report then goes to the Insolvency

Service (a government department) which

assesses if it is “in the public interest” to

bring proceedings against individuals or

corporate bodies to disqualify them from

being a director for between two and fifteen

years.

Such proceedings against directors then

takes two courses, either the director

voluntarily agrees to a disqualification and

signs an agreement not to hold the office of

director for a specified number of years.

Alternatively the director can contest the

evidence and take the matter to court. I

personally have given evidence for such

court cases on high profile names (who were

disqualified) which I choose not to mention

here. There are a number of well known

public figures who have fought off

disqualification proceedings; it helps to

instruct a good law firm!

So directors who breach the rules can be

barred from doing it again. However if they

are foolish enough to flout the rules, it can

become a criminal matter.

Other aspects of the insolvency law which

could have been brought against the bankers

in the “what if” scenario are:

Wrongful Trading: a legal process which in

essence makes the director personally liable

for the losses of the company by continuing

to trade the business in an insolvent state

when the director ought to have known it

was incapable of recovery.

Contrary to popular belief these procedures

don’t happen very often because:

Evidence has to be available

It can be expensive in legal costs

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

The Insolvency Practitioner is

personally liable for the director’s

costs if the case is thrown out

The director has to have assets to

make it worthwhile

Fraudulent Trading: Where the director

intentionally sets out to defraud the company

and its creditors. Criminal intent is a tricky

one to prove and evidence is key. Whilst we

have assisted on cases suspected of

fraudulent trading, the Criminal Prosecution

Service decided not to progress them.

Returning to the bankers, what has happened

irrespective of an insolvency is some

bankers have been declared unfit to act in

the financial services industry by what is

now FCA (formerly FSA – Financial

Services Authority). At Bottomley & Co™,

we have administered one case where the

evidence presented resulted in the director

firstly being declared unfit by the FSA and

subsequently taking a voluntary

disqualification for 8 years.

Whilst disqualifications and other actions in

an insolvency are reported to the creditors, it

can by the nature of the investigation take

many months and usually years to conclude.

In today’s second by second news culture,

it’s very old news when disqualifications

happen. It seems the media and the public

want the scapegoat now and, all too often,

these people are dragged before us through

multimedia in a modern day set of stocks to

have metaphorical rotten vegetable thrown at

them before a proper investigation has taken

place. The difference now is whereas the

stocks were visible to the people at the

scene, now via the internet, the scapegoat is

visible to the whole world.

My personal view on the debt crisis is

similar to the Archbishop’s approach to the

bankers. I say so many people borrowed, we

borrowed in hindsight too much and didn’t

consider the consequences. The bankers

revelled in success and formed new ways to

lend to more people, to some people who

shouldn’t have been borrowing. Then this

great big bubble burst, and boom turns into

bust. The ‘lynch mobbish’ attitude won’t

solve anything, it just fosters more

negativity.

It’ll happen again, just in a different way

when the consequences of this cycle are but

a distant memory. I will try not to forget the

lessons learnt.

By Paul Miles Rogers, Partner at Bottomley & Co™

AAnn EEnntteerrpprriissiinngg NNeeww SScchhooooll YYeeaarr..

This is year 4 of Paul Miles Rogers’ learning

curve as a Business Advisor with the Rugby

branch of Young Enterprise (www.young-

enterprise.org.uk), the business education

charity.

Paul is looking forward to new schools in

Rugby joining the programme where teams

of 15 to 17 year old students form a

company which trades from September to

the end of the school year. It is also

competitive as well as a learning experience

for the students, with the best Rugby team

representing the Borough at the Coventry

and Warwickshire finals in April 2014.

Last year, Paul’s team partnered with Sheila

Bell of Swann Systems Bookkeepers,

narrowly missed out on a mentoring hat trick

of Rugby victories.

2013/14 could be an exciting year as Paul

and Sheila may be pitted against each other

by joining with new business advisors to

pass on their experience. It is rewarding to

see students develop as they experience the

pitfalls and successes of running a business.

If you’d like to know more about Young

Enterprise and how you could get involved,

ask Paul.

By Stephen King, Marketing at Bottomley & Co™

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

BBaacckk ttoo WWoorrkk......LLeeaannnnee

On 1st July 2013, I returned to my desk at

Bottomley & Co™ after being away for nine

months on maternity leave, having given

birth to my daughter Mia. It was my second

time going back to work after having a baby

but it wasn’t any easier second time

around...

Returning to work after maternity leave

churns up a multitude of emotions. For me,

it was guilt and sadness at leaving the little

girl I’d cared for twenty four hours a day for

the last nine months (and the previous nine

months of course!), combined with looking

forward to having some grown up company

and most of all being able to drink a cup of

tea while it was still hot!!!

My partner and I had taken time to research

and seek recommendations in order to find

the best nursery we could, a place where Mia

could learn, socialise and be happy. We

were really pleased with the nursery we

chose but it didn’t make it any easier leaving

her there for the first day. I managed to

stifle a tear as I said goodbye. Mia on the

other hand, hardly looked around as her

nursery nurse took her off for her toast!

Two months on and I’m finding things much

easier. After a couple of days being back at

work, it felt as if I’d never been away as I

got back into the swing of drafting IVA

(Individual Voluntary Arrangement)

proposals and creditor reports, getting to

grips with new systems and learning about

our newest cases.

It’s not easy juggling work commitments

with the demands of two children (especially

when the little one has been up all night

teething!) but it feels now as if I have found

the right balance. Long may it continue...

BByy Leanne Murphy, Insolvency Administrator

MMyytthhss SSoollvveedd..

The Adverts said “Write off 75% of Your

Liabilities” True or False?

You will probably have seen over the past

decade TV or newspaper advertising which

proclaimed, “write off 75% of your

liabilities” “with a little known piece of

government legislation”. Well in certain

circumstances you can write off liabilities

through a legally binding agreement. The

‘government legislation’ is called an

Individual Voluntary Arrangement (‘IVA’).

It is an insolvency procedure so it has some

consequences, however if the advantages

outweigh the disadvantages, it is an effective

solution when compared with the

consequences of other options such as

Bankruptcy or an informal Debt

Management Plan (the latter option may

have a longer duration).

In my opinion, the 75% claim, is purely an

advertising ploy.

An IVA should propose an outcome which

HM Revenue & Customs requests to be the

“optimum offer” which should be viable and

realistic. Each individual is unique; we look

at what can be achieved in reality rather than

some of our competitors who advertise from

the perspective of what they think their

potential client may want to achieve.

Our way ensures that the individual entering

into an IVA gets protected from creditor

legal action, what they pledge to pay back is

the optimum offer under their circumstances.

The end result of an IVA is that all

concerned come through the situation with

an outcome better than in Bankruptcy. What

gets written off can vary greatly; everyone is

unique and therefore the outcome is too.

By Paul Miles Rogers, Partner at Bottomley & Co™

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

HHooww SSoocciiaall aarree WWee??

Social media, the future in marketing your

company and keeping in contact with your

customers, clients and stakeholders.

These days if you don’t have at least a

Twitter, Facebook page and a LinkedIn

account for your company, then you are

looked upon as being behind the times.

Many of us look at doing research on

companies before we use them, and/or rely

on recommendations from friends and

family. This is where social media comes

into its own, especially for companies such

as ours, who deal with delicate financial

issues that can be looked upon by some as

something embarrassing to be using.

More and more people are researching

companies using social media and the web,

then making their decision whether or not

they are trustworthy and deserving of their

business, so the more your company is being

talked about the better.

Increasing the chatter; over the last few

months, Bottomley & Co™ have made a

huge leap forward in Social Media terms by

setting up our Twitter (@BottomleyandCo)

and Facebook pages (Bottomley & Co) as

well as working on updates to our LinkedIn

page. This is on top of other things which we

were already doing; partners and colleagues’

individual social media feeds, blogging and

using forums such as ‘The Law Forum’ and

4Networking to name just a few.

The whole point of doing all this activity is

to produce ‘noise’ around your business

and what one has to offer. This in turn

enables the reinforcing of current

relationships as well as building new ones

with people that may not know us directly,

but via ‘you know someone I know’. That’s

the great thing with social media; you don’t

have to be introduced via networking events

and conferences like in the old days, even

though this is still one of the best ways to

meet new contacts.

Social media allows you to put your

company and your thoughts out into the

ether and let the ‘friends of friends’ see

what you are about and what you have to

offer. Throw in the ideal platform to

celebrate your successes on and a way of

sharing useful information to a wider

audience, and this then becomes one of the

best tools available to your company.

We are certainly finding that, for us here at

Bottomley & Co™, it’s enabling us to keep

in touch with our stakeholders and online

friends as well as connecting to new ones.

It gives us the platform to pass our

knowledge onto people who need it as well

as allowing an easier way for people to

pick our brains. As with any marketing

activity the primary focus should be to

generate new enquiries. After all ‘Our

Advice is Take Advice™’

So why not look us up and follow/like our

Twitter and Facebook pages. Come and join

us in the social media revolution.

@BottomleyandCo

BottomleyandCo

bottomelyandco By Stephen King, Marketing at Bottomley & Co™

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

FFaacctt FFiinnddeerr..

Portal – The Future of Insolvency

Reporting – Death of the Photocopier?!

Following the introduction of Insolvency

Rules 12A.10 – “Electronic delivery in

insolvency proceedings” – general, 12A.11 –

“Electronic delivery by office-holders” and

12A.12 – “Use of websites by office-

holder”, it became possible to use email

rather than posting a report by letter as a

means for Insolvency Practitioners to

communicate formal notices to creditors.

This summer, all Bottomley & Co™’s

reports to creditors direct them to our

insolvency software supplier’s websie

(Turnkey Computer Technology Ltd) Portal:

www.ips-docs.com

For each case we supply a login code and

password to securely gain access to that

specific case’s reports.

Additional features are email updates when

we add a new document.

The end result is we have a more cost

effective business model saving on

photocopier costs, postage and paper.

This improves our green environmental

credentials as less energy and fewer

resources are used.

Creditors get swifter access to case matters if

they provide us with an email address. If

they don’t print the documents, they save on

their own paper and storage/shredding costs.

The Portal is progress in the right direction. by Tracey Elms, Senior Insolvency Administrator

www.bottomleyandco.com Partners: David Halstead Bottomley FCA,

Paul Miles Rogers MIPA David Halstead Bottomley acts as an Insolvency Practitioner licensed in the

United Kingdom by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales

08700 676767 or 01788 819631

Out of hours 07947 089129

@BottomleyandCo

BottomleyandCo

bottomelyandco

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

HHeellppffuull HHiinnttss && TTiippss ffrroomm

Bottomley & Co™

I appreciate that this list is lengthy however its purpose is to provide you with comprehensive information and comply with our code

of practice.

Before I show you what the options are ....... we appreciate it’s a big step to seek advice so let me show you a video entitled

"The Treehouse" it’s our message to those who need a helping hand here is the link:

The Treehouse at www.youtube.com/user/BottomleyandCo

In addition.....As our motto is "Our advice is take advice™" there is also an introductory video about Bottomley & Co™

For Individuals For Companies

Informal

Arrangement

A negotiated informal repayment deal with

creditors. It can work if all creditors agree, but

can take many years to complete. For useful

advice go to:www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Informal

Arrangement

A negotiated informal repayment deal with

creditors. It can work if all creditors agree.

For useful advice go to:

Business Debtline www.bdl.org.uk

Debt

Management

A Debt Management company negotiates with

creditors. It is similar to an informal

arrangement. Refinancing

Borrowing money, possibly unsecured, but usually

secured against an asset, to repay all liabilities.

Consolidation

Borrowing money, either as an unsecured loan

or as a loan secured against an asset e.g. a

house, to repay all liabilities.

Compulsory

Liquidation

Generally occurs when a creditor issues a petition

to wind up the Company. Initially the Official

Receiver is appointed. For more information go to

the government website: www.insolvency.gov.uk

If you are a creditor Call or email us for

professional advice.

Remortgage

Borrowing money either as an unsecured loan

or as a loan secured against a house, to repay

all liabilities.

Administration

A formal insolvency rescue procedure

Call or email us for professional advice.

Bankruptcy

Either the individual or a creditor petitions for

a person’s Bankruptcy. For more information

go to the government website:

www.insolvency.gov.uk

Creditors

Voluntary

Liquidation

(CVL)

If a company is insolvent and with no hope of

recovery, the appropriate course of action is to

liquidate. With a CVL the directors can instruct us

to act as liquidator.

Call or email us for professional advice.

Debt Relief

Order

A simplified alternative to Bankruptcy for

those who owe £15,000 or less, have assets of

£300 or less and have monthly surplus income

of £50 or less. For more information go to the

government website

www.insolvency.gov.uk

CVA

A CVA is an alternative to Liquidation, by which a

company settles a percentage of its liabilities over a

typical maximum of 5 years on such conditions and

terms as may be agreed with more than 75% of

voting creditors.

Call or email us for professional advice.

IVA

An IVA is an alternative to Bankruptcy, by

which the debtor settles a percentage of their

liabilities over a typical maximum of 5 years

on such conditions and terms as may be

agreed with 75% of voting creditors.

Call or email us for professional advice.

What happens with a County Court Judgment? in England & Wales they are recorded with Registry Trust Limited who re-

branded as Trust Online. According to their website they are “a not-for-profit company which operates the Registry of Judgments,

Orders and Fines for England and Wales on behalf of the Ministry of Justice”. You can search (for a fee) what Judgments are

registered at www.trustonline.org.uk or by telephone on: 020 7380 0133

Satisfying a Judgment

If the Judgment is paid in full with costs go to the www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk and search the words “satisfaction judgment” for

the forms and guidance for the Judgment to be removed from the Register.

If a Judgment cannot be paid in full? – Where we can help If the individual or company has a cashflow or other problems in paying the Judgment then it could indicate insolvency. Our initial

consultation is free, and taking professional advice from a licensed firm such as ourselves may be appropriate and offer up solutions

you may not have been aware of.

© Bottomley & Co™ 2013 View this edition on the web at; www.liquidation.gb.net select News pages

SSuuppppoorrtt && FFuunnddiinngg Our thanks to Coventry & Warwickshire FSB for compiling this list and permission to print this extract; more

options and extra details can be found at;

http://www.fsb.org.uk/warwickshire/loans-grants

Local Support:

CWLEP Small Business

Loans Fund

CW ENTERPRISE &

GROWTH PACKAGE

FEDERATION OF

SMALL BUSINESSES

INSTITUTE OF

CHARTERED

ACCOUNTANTS

£1 million fund for

SME’s offering loans or

grants up to £30,000

Business support in 5

strands, including Start

up support, Support and

grants up to £2,000 for

new businesses.

Investment grants up to

£100,000

Access to legal advice

from qualified lawyers

24/7 365 days a year.

Tax advice from

Revenue trained

specialists.

Information and

documentation on

employment law, tax,

health & safety and

commercial law

documents on the

members-only website.

Business Advice Service (BAS) that offers a free

consultation from a local

ICAEW Chartered

Accountant.

Bottomley & Co™ is a

BAS firm.

Solihull Council’s Business Loan Fund A £1 million package of loans to small and medium

businesses (SMEs) based in Solihull. The loan will

support a diverse range of solid, profitable Solihull

companies which have previously been unable to

access funding.

Coventry & Warwickshire Re-investment Trust Provides business loans to businesses and social

enterprises in Cov & Warks that are unable to receive

their full funding requirements from their bank.

Between £10k and £50K

Project Associate Scheme is part of WMG's

Innovation Programme

Scheme to help SMEs take on a new intern to help

them develop new products or services

National Support:

Over 50? Under 30? Disabled? Ex-military?

PRIME PRINCE’S TRUST LEONARD

CHESHIRE

HEROPRENEURS

Give over 50s the means

to explore and develop

their business ideas

through accredited

training, mentoring,

resources and

networking, so that in

the face of an ageing

society.

Practical and financial

support, developing key

workplace skills such as

confidence and

motivation.

Provides education,

skills development,

employment support,

social care and leisure

activities for anyone

with a disability.

Start-up or early-stage

business support via

training, advice,

guidance and networking

for ex-military

entrepreneurs.

Rural Economy Grant Administered by Rural

Development Programme for England

Grants for unlocking economic growth in farming,

forestry, tourism and agri-food. Projects minimum

£25k – maximum £1m

TeenBiz

Business start-up scheme for young people aged 18

and under. Every month one student will receive up

to £500 funding, a mentor and a start-up pack.

Our motto is: Our Advice is Take Advice™ Knowing what the consequences or options early is sound advice.

An initial consultation is free and in confidence

08700 676767 or 01788 819631 www.bottomleyandco.com

Bonus Page - Technical Bulletin - Summary

The Enterprise Act 2002 (EA) saw the abolition of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC)

Crown Preference.

However we often find in the business community the belief remains that the Crown still has an advantage in the priority of insolvency dividends. THIS IS SIMPLY NOT THE CASE !

Read the full Technical Bulletin article at www.liquidation.gb.net select the News section - Technical Bulletin July 2012.

What the Act did was to rank HMRC with all the unsecured creditors.

So what were the effects of the Enterprise Act on dividends to unsecured creditors?

A study of Bottomley & Co's cases - what if HMRC still had priority?

HMRC is a creditor in

50% of cases

post EA i.e. after

15/9/2003

31% of cases unsecured

creditors wouldn’t have a

dividend if pre EA2002

50% of cases unsecured

dividends significantly

reduced if HMRC pref. claims

Employee claims would also be reduced if

HMRC pref. claims

HMRC claims

amount to almost

12% of total

unsecured claims

In Conclusion:

Unsecured creditors would appear to have had a better deal as a result of the Enterprise Act 2002 from HMRC losing its preferential status.

Preferential Status

– How HMRC Lost It –

10 Years on! Who Gained?