Liquidation is the final chapter for many businesses. It may sound daunting, but the systems are designed to make the process as straightforward as possible. In this article, we’ll take a look at the liquidation process and the typical timelines.

If you are in a position where cash flow can no longer support your business, it may be time to consider liquidation. In today’s turbulent world, there is little stigma attached to a company reaching this stage. External forces are complex and unpredictable, and no organisation is immune to the risk.

When there is a dispute at the heart of a company, it can be confusing, traumatic, and difficult to resolve. One party wants to abandon ship, the other is desperate to continue.

If one director in a 50/50 shareholding wants to liquidate and the other does not, stalemate, tensions, and dark clouds quickly follow.

Your company is entering liquidation. All eyes are focused upon the situation, and everybody has questions.

Even the best managed companies sometimes hit a rocky patch where mounting debts can no longer be paid through cashflow or normal financing. This is commonplace and no cause for embarrassment. Many would say that it is simply a part of doing business.

Liquidation means terminating a company and selling off any assets it owns to pay some or all of the debts it owes. It is also known as winding up. A liquidation is carried out by an appointed licensed insolvency practitioner, acting in capacity of liquidator. A liquidation can be requested voluntarily by the directors or made compulsory by a court order, at the request of one or more creditors. Usually, it happens as a result of accrued debts that a company is unable to pay but it can also happen if the owner/directors simply want a solvent company to be dissolved and struck off the register of companies.

The collapse of construction service giant Carillion Plc, the second largest construction business in the UK, has sent shockwaves throughout the sector. From a reported revenue of £5.2 billion in 2016, the once mighty business collapsed into compulsory liquidation on 15th of January 2018.

This is terrible news for Carillion’s 20,000 direct employees in the UK, as well as its hundreds of clients across the construction, civil engineering and facilities management sectors. The insolvency is also likely to have a big impact on Carillion’s UK sub-contractors, estimated to include 30,000 SMEs.

There are several reasons that businesses fail; changes in the market, leadership issues and strategic failures are just a few of the many things that can cause a company to close its doors. A recent study revealed just how common business failure is, reporting that not even half of business start-ups will survive past five years.¹

Two options available to a business that requires financial assistance are business rescue (i.e. Administration) and winding up (i.e. Liquidation). Business rescue usually involves a company receiving assistance in the form of additional finance or time to repay its debts to enable it to continue to trade. In a Liquidation the company would stop trading and company assets would be sold off before the company is finally dissolved.

Ideally, company insolvency would always be easy and never involve debts or disagreements between shareholders and directors. The reality is that the process can be complex, which is why the advice of a Licenced Insolvency Practitioner should always be sought. Below are multiple points to consider when going through voluntary liquidation.