As you will have seen in recent announcements, the government is now: Extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) until 31 March 2021. Postponing the Job Support Scheme (JSS), possibly indefinitely. Scrapping the Job Retention Bonus (JRB), but this will apparently be replaced by another “retention incentive at the appropriate time”. Businesses that have spent … Continue Reading
Following the UK Prime Minister’s announcement on Saturday night that England will enter a second national lockdown on Thursday 5 November, HM Treasury has confirmed that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) that was due to close at the end of October will be extended for a month (for now!). The introduction of the Job … Continue Reading
Following then Government announcement regarding further support for businesses during COVID-19, our employment colleagues have produced a quick guide outlining the key features of the Job Support Scheme (Open and Closed) and the Job Retention Bonus Scheme.… Continue Reading
Earlier in the year, we published a blog regarding the impact of the moratorium introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. In particular, we flagged that the moratorium may result in a significant loss of control for secured lenders and qualified floating charge holders (QFCH). In a recent case, Re Tokenhouse VB Limited … Continue Reading
On 8 October 2020, the UK government published a report reviewing voluntary measures introduced in 2015 to improve the transparency of pre-pack sales in administration. There is no legal definition of a pre-pack, although the term is used to explain the sale of a insolvent business by an administrator back to existing management (usually on … Continue Reading
On Friday, the UK Chancellor announced additional support for UK businesses that will be legally required to shut for a period over the winter months as part of local or national restrictions. At this stage, we only have HMRC’s factsheet to go on, but it seems the support will be provided by way of an … Continue Reading
Our latest updated guide setting out the financial support measures available to businesses across Europe and the Middle East is now available here.… Continue Reading
While much of the focus of the insolvency and restructuring world has (rightly and understandably) been on the fundamental changes introduced under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, it is worth remembering that there have been major tax changes too. The Finance Act 2020 introduced new rules making directors, shadow directors and certain … Continue Reading
With UK government support packages coming to an end shortly, our financial health road map sets out key dates for UK businesses that will help identify milestones that may impact a company’s cash flow and should be factored into decisions about the future of a business. The road map has been updated to identify any … Continue Reading
Our guide sets out how different jurisdictions are changing their Insolvency Laws to help alleviate additional pressures placed on businesses as a consequence of cash flow pressures caused by COVID-19. This week’s updates include changes in the UK, Germany and Japan. Click here to see our guide.… Continue Reading
A number of recent extensions and changes to temporary measures have been announced that impact insolvency practice and procedure, what are they?… Continue Reading
Last week the UK Chancellor announced a new scheme to help support jobs in the UK. Currently the UK’s coronavirus job retention scheme helps UK businesses by paying a percentage of wages of those employees on furlough, but that scheme comes to an end in October. Given that the UK economy remains fragile there was … Continue Reading
The UK Government is implementing further measures to protect commercial tenants from rent collection until the end of the calendar year. This is the latest in a number of extensions to the provisions of the Coronavirus Act 2020 that have been enacted to help businesses navigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new measures … Continue Reading
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivered the government’s ‘Winter Economy Plan’ on Thursday, 24 September 2020. Set against a marked deterioration in data tracking the spread of coronavirus in the UK signalling a worsening of the health crisis, the statement was afforded heightened importance by the postponement of the Autumn Budget. Given the … Continue Reading
On Tuesday 22 September, we hosted our Resetting Retail: Response to COVID-19 event. Our panel of experts, comprising Matthew Lewis, Head of Retail; Richard Lim, Chief Executive, Retail Economics; Paula Laird, Financial Services partner; and John Alderton, Restructuring & Insolvency partner, explored the viability, sustainability and recovery of UK retail as we head towards the … Continue Reading
As we discussed in our previous blog relating to the Supplier of Last Resort Process, energy company insolvencies bring with them a range of different processes and requirements which other companies do not need to consider. In particular, the involvement of the Secretary of State and the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA) in energy … Continue Reading
Many local, national and global businesses with UK operations have been significantly impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Cash flows have been impacted, trade and supply chains disrupted and business and consumer confidence damaged. Many businesses are facing the same challenges at the same time. The key for businesses to resetting for the “new normal” … Continue Reading
Our financial health roadmap sets out key dates that UK businesses should factor into future forecasting and planning over the coming months. In particular, it highlights when temporary financial or other support offered by the UK government and HMRC will be tapered or come to an end, and changes in law or policy that may … Continue Reading
The Finance Act 2020 received Royal Assent today (22 July), confirming the anticipated but opposed intention to restore HMRC as a secondary preferential creditor on insolvency. From 1 December 2020 HMRC’s claim will sit ahead of floating charge holders and unsecured creditors reducing the monies available for distribution to both when a corporate files for … Continue Reading
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the “Act”) came into force on 26th June 2020. Alongside the Act, a new Insolvency Practice Direction (“IPD”) came into force and provides additional information in respect of winding petitions and the “coronavirus test”. This blog will look at a few of the key changes contained in the … Continue Reading
As the government slowly ‘unlocks’ the British economy, and activity adapts to the new normal alongside coronavirus, the hope must be that latent consumer demand triggers a rapid, equally dramatic, recovery in GDP and jobs, allowing businesses to boost cash-flow and repay debt. An economic recovery of this nature (the sharper the point of the … Continue Reading
Following our webinar discussing the impact of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 for corporates, we have prepared a question and answer sheet addressing questions raised including: Does ipso facto apply to just UK contracts? Can a supplier still exercise set off rights if its customer enters into a moratorium? What should a supplier … Continue Reading
On 25 June 2020 the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act received Royal Assent, making some of the biggest changes to UK insolvency laws in the last 30 years. We have written several blogs covering the changes and how they help support distressed businesses, impact suppliers, lenders and other third parties and have tracked the changes … Continue Reading
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) was published on 20 May 2020 and introduced a new debtor-in-possession moratorium to give companies breathing space in order to try to rescue the company as a going concern. The Bill went through the House of Commons on 3 June and passed through the House of Lords … Continue Reading
