Particularly for the retail and hospitality sectors, the last year or so has been pretty bleak. Big names like Toys R Us, Maplins and Poundworld all disappeared from the high street, whilst a long list of others, including Prezzo, Carluccio’s, Marks & Spencer. Mothercare and New Look have shrunk.
The number of insolvencies of individuals in the year was 115,299, continuing a steady year-on-year rise which began in 2015. This gives the highest annual figure since 2011.
According to research carried out by Credit Action, the financial education charity, outstanding personal debt in the UK stood at £1.420 trillion at the end of November 2012. That means that UK individuals owed almost as much as the entire country produced in the whole of 2011!
In every company insolvency (administration or insolvent company liquidation), the insolvency practitioner’s statutory duties include submitting a report to the Department of Business (BIS) on the directors’ conduct. The purpose of the report is to enable the Secretary of State to decide whether the director is fit to be allowed to act in the management of a company, or whether they should be disqualified for a period of time.