'Corporate undertakers' become 'company doctors'

Research shows that the insolvency profession is good for the economy

It's great to have some good news about the economy and about the insolvency profession. Research carried out by ComRes, a leading polling and research agency, shows that the UK’s insolvency industry helped to save nearly two million jobs in companies going through insolvency and rescued around six thousand (5,851) businesses last year. In addition, the UK’s Insolvency Practitioners who work on corporate insolvencies spend nearly a quarter of their time on preventing insolvencies rather than dealing with companies that have already gone to the wall.

Hopefully this will go some way towards changing people's opinions of what insolvency practitioners like me actually do. Before I joined the profession, my own experience of dealing with an insolvency practitioner had not been entirely positive. I often think back to that time and as a result I am determined to be the type of practitioner who is focussed on delivering the right advice at the right time, concentrating on preserving businesses and jobs, rescuing companies and keeping people out of bankruptcy where possible and practical.

My goal is to give balanced, impartial advice on all the options, to allow people to make their own informed decision. Business owners know far more about their business than I ever will, so my job is to offer the various tools in my insolvency 'toolbox' and help them understand how they can help deal with debt and insolvency problems in their individual circumstances.

But I can't work miracles. I can't turn back the clock and I can't wave a magic wand. The sooner that I am asked to help, the more options there will be and the more chance we will have in turning things around.

So if you've been worrying about debt but you've been concerned about asking advice from a 'corporate undertaker', why not call me, Dr Debt, the company doctor. My number is 01709 331300 and it costs nothing to have a chat about your options.

Budget offers help for struggling businesses

Chancellor pledges more help for firms with unaffordable tax bills

In his Budget speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling announced that the Business Payment Support Scheme will be extended for the life of the next Parliament.

Under the scheme, HM Revenue and Customs will agree to requests from businesses to defer unaffordable tax payments in an attempt to safeguard jobs and prevent the damaging effects of high numbers of insolvencies. Since the scheme was introduced in November 2008, over £5bn in unpaid taxes has been re-negotiated by 160,000 businesses employing more than 1.4 million people.

There had been speculation that the scheme would be abolished during 2010 as the Treasury tried to maximise tax revenue as part of the Government’s efforts to cope with the record levels of public borrowing. However, the scheme has been popular and is considered to have been instrumental in saving many businesses and jobs.

However, in a separate announcement the Government has announced that from 1 April 2010 any requests for time to pay agreements for tax debts in excess of £1m will need to be accompanied by an independent business review to demonstrate the long term viability of the business. HMRC estimates that this will affect approximately 1 in every thousand requests.

This announcement will affect few firms but I’ve seen that even small firms are being increasingly asked to provide accounts when requesting time to pay agreements.

If your business is facing unaffordable tax bills, call Paul Moorhead today on 01709 331300 for help and advice. We can help arrange a time to pay agreement with HMRC.