Avoiding advertisement of an HMRC winding up petition in the London Gazette is crucial if you want to save your business. Once the petition becomes public, the outlook for the company is very bleak. Our expert team deals regularly with HMRC and can help avoid the worst.
If the HMRC are threatening to advertise the winding up petition, then you have to take very quick action to try and avoid this. Advertisement of a winding up petition in the publication called the London Gazette essentially makes the winding up petition common knowledge.
The harm caused to a business by an advertised petition
If a winding up petition is advertised, the following may happen
- your bank will freeze your company bank account;
- a frozen bank account means you cannot pay staff, suppliers and other key creditors. It will stop you being able to trade;
- suppliers will become aware of the winding up order and avoid supplying you with goods or services unless you pay on delivery.
In a nutshell – advertisement in the London Gazette can quickly cause your company to unravel and it then becomes very difficult to avoid formal insolvency.
Act quickly and you can still resolve the HMRC problem
HMRC will often threaten advertisement in the London Gazette if you have not engaged with them with regard to repayment of the debt claimed. Simply avoiding dealing with the winding up petition by HMRC is one of the worst things you can do. They will not back down and they will simply carry on and wind up the company. Therefore, if you want to avoid a winding up order being made, you have to deal with HMRC.
At Francis Wilks & Jones we have the expert team available to deal with winding up petitions including negotiating with HMRC and avoiding advertisements being made. We have many years’ experience dealing with HMRC and negotiating settlements with them on behalf of clients and avoiding winding up petition advertisement taking place.
There are still things you can do even if the petition is advertised
If the winding up petition has already been advertised in the London Gazette, then it is not always the end of the road. It does make the position much more difficult and there is no point pretending otherwise. However,
- it is still possible to continue trading via a validation order and seeking agreement with your bank to continue financing the company.
- the company can seek some form of restructuring to help save it. We have the expert contacts to help you with this.
- if it cannot be saved, there are better insolvency processes to help protect the company which may be appropriate including
- a company voluntary arrangement; or
- placing the company into formal administration.
Whatever your circumstances, contact the winding up petition experts at Francis Wilks & Jones and we can help you.
Our expert team of HMRC winding up petition solicitors at Francis Wilks & Jones are here to help you with your winding up petition questions and deal with the HMRC. Our knowledge of the winding up order process is significant. We help with company rescue daily. Call us today for help.
FWJ were very hands-on, getting involved from an early stage in seeking to avert an expensive set of litigation proceedings. I am more than happy to recommend their services, particularly when it comes to considering complicated issues or complex proceedings.
A client who was facing a liquidator claim for the improper withdrawal of sums from a company. We had the claim dismissed
