Financial Struggles in Catering: Facing the harsh truth
In late 2025, BRI met with the director of a catering company that had lost its three major customers during an 18-month period. In the absence of any new work to replace the lost revenue, the director was becoming increasingly anxious about the company’s future and its mounting debt problem. The financial struggles meant it was clear to us that, sadly, there was no realistic prospect of the business recovering. To prevent the financial position from getting much worse, we strongly advised that the company should enter into a creditors’ voluntary liquidation as soon as possible.
When it comes to our clients, we understand that the prospect of insolvency and instigating a creditors’ voluntary liquidation (“CVL”) can be daunting and upsetting. When business owners and accountants choose to trust us as their insolvency practitioner, we understand the pressure they are under. With our expertise and advice, we want to lift that weight off their shoulders and work with them – however heavy that burden may be.
If your business is struggling financially and you need advice, please contact our team today.
Proactive assistance and reassurance throughout the CVL Process
Working closely with the director, we soon arrived at a strategy for closing the business, dealing with the assets and setting a date for the liquidation. As a first step, we arranged for him to work with a specialist agent to manage the employees’ redundancy claims and deal with their many queries.
We then helped the director deal with the company’s assets in a manner that would prevent any future criticism or legal action and maximise the eventual return for creditors. Book debts were successfully pursued; the director fully repaid his loan from the company, and the bank balance was transferred to our client’s account.
Working alongside the client for a smooth Liquidation
Throughout the implementation of the liquidation process, we ensured that the director always received prompt responses to his emailed queries and that we gave clear, succinct advice to direct him through the complex legal process required for the appointment of liquidators. We understand the emotional and stressful time that this can be. We like to give our clients as much information as possible to ease their feelings. We are here to help, and we want each of our clients to know that, whilst balancing their fiduciary duty to act in the interest of all creditors.
The director was extremely grateful for our supportive and professional approach, which, evidently, reduced the burden of stress considerably.
Delivering a Successful CVL: The best outcome from a bad situation
Thanks to our efficient working partnership with the director, by the time that the liquidation date had arrived – 6 weeks after we were initially consulted – many of the assets on the company’s balance sheet had been transformed into cash in our client account. This will mean that our time costs as liquidators will be lower than originally expected, and, consequently, as our professional fees will also be lower, there’ll be more funds available to distribute to the creditors.
In this case, it currently appears that all creditors will receive a distribution in due course. Meanwhile, the director and the former employees can feel some relief that a stressful chapter in their lives has now been brought to a close, and was made less daunting by our sensitive, supportive guidance.
If you or your company is experiencing financial difficulty and you would like some advice, please contact our team today. An initial consultation is free with no obligation. We are here to help you.