Category: Top stories

On 1 November 2023, HMRC published some new guidance outlining the approach they will take to restructuring proposals provided by companies, such as restructuring plans under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006. 

The guidance is short and without frills but does offer some key points for companies to ensure they consider when looking to restructure debts given HMRC’s status as a key creditor. The guidance also reflects some of the key lessons that have developed from Part 26A case law to date where HMRC engagement has been crucial to the success or failure of plans.

Firstly, HMRC is clear that they will only support restructuring proposals where they believe there is a “realistic chance of succeeding” (emphasis added).  They outline that companies must be prepared to explain why they consider the plan to be realistic and in particular that HMRC will critically examine projections of future income and expenditure, comparing it to previous history and assurance. All tax returns must be filed and HMRC need to be satisfied that the company will be able to pay future debts to them as they are due.

The guidance therefore makes clear that companies and their advisers need to be mindful of previous dealings and filings with HMRC and be prepared to explain any previous issues with taxes, as well as to defend future assumptions and calculations. Robust figures and independent evidence are crucial.

Another consideration of HMRC highlighted is the approach taken to payments of other creditors ahead of HMRC and whether this is justified, as well as looking at whether the company has “dealt fairly with payments to creditors during the period” and if part of a group, has “reasonably apportioned debt or risk within the group”.

Ultimately, the key point to take from this guidance, as indeed from the case law it reflects, is that HMRC support for restructuring is possible, but early and open engagement with HMRC is essential.

What does the Autumn Statement offer struggling businesses?

As a major policy moment before the next UK general election, this Autumn Statement has been hotly anticipated. There was much speculation about possible tax cuts to provide relief to businesses who have been struggling with the impacts of inflation, supply chain and labour issues.

Hunt predicted that the 110 growth measures he included in the statement would increase business investment by £20 billion per year in a decade and he emphasised that the statement was an “Autumn Statement for Growth”. This was against  figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility where projected growth is now expected to be slower than expected, and inflation is estimated not to fall to its 2% target level until the first half of 2025. Whilst the economy defied predictions with an estimated growth of 0.6% in 2023, the OBR’s estimate of the medium-term potential growth rate of the economy has been revised down to 1.6% from their previous estimate of 1.8%.

The Chancellor’s measures for businesses included the following:

Business Tax Measures 

• “Full expensing” for businesses to be made permanent.
• 75% business rates discount for hospitality, retail and leisure extended for another year to 2024/2025.
• A freeze on all alcohol duty until 1 August 2024.
• Creating a new simplified Research & Development (R&D) tax relief combining the existing R&D expenditure credit and SME schemes; reducing the rate that loss-making companies are taxed within the merge scheme from 25% to 19% and lowering the threshold for additional support for R&D-intensive lossmaking SMEs to 30%.
• The small business rates multiplier will be frozen for a further year, though the standard business rates multiplier will rise by inflation.
• Abolition of Class 2 National Insurance contributions for the self-employed altogether, and Class 4 National Insurance contributions reduced by 1% from 9% from April 2024.

 

Apprenticeships and Skills

• An additional £50 million to boost numbers of apprenticeships in key growth sectors.

 

Business investment and other measures

• Reforms to business planning applications for faster processing.
• Foreign Direct Investment reforms, including a concierge service for the largest investors.
• Mansion House pension reforms to unlock an extra £75 billion of investment for high growth forms by 2030.
• Extension of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) schemes until 2035 to support start-up companies.
• A new Growth Fund within the British Business Bank for investing in high growth companies.
• An upcoming review of the Value for Money Framework by the Financial Conduct Authority
• A consultation on the Pension Protection Fund acting as a consolidator for smaller private defined benefit pensions schemes.
• Further capital market reforms to attract investment.

 

Sector specific measures

• Improving electricity grid access for clean energy companies.
• £500 million over the next two years to help develop Artificial Intelligence industries.
• For the advanced manufacturing and green energy sectors he announced that the government will be publishing long-term plans and £4.5 billion of support over the five years to 2030 to attract investment into strategic manufacturing centres.

 

Late payments  

• In terms of payments dates, the Procurement Act has 30-day payment terms throughout the subcontract supply chain for public sector contracts. From April 2024, any company bidding for large government contracts should demonstrate they pay their own invoices within an average of 55 days which will reduce progressively to 30 days.

 

Levelling up

• Investment zones and freeports – extending financial incentives for investment zones, and tax reliefs for Freeports from 5 years to 10 years.
• A £150 million investment opportunity fund, new investment zone in West Yorkshire, 3 further investment zones in the West Midlands, East Midlands and Greater Manchester, and a second investment zone in Wales.

 

Impact

The Chancellor stated that the 110 growth measures he included in the statement would increase business investment by up to £20 billion per year and described the extension to full expensing as “the largest business tax cut in modern British history” and the “biggest ever boost for business investment in modern times”.

A number of the measures will be welcome for struggling businesses, especially smaller businesses, such as the plans for tackling late payments where businesses are struggling with cashflow issues, as well as the freezing of the small business multiplier for an additional year. There were also sector specific measures such as the extension of the 75% business rates discount for hospitality, retail and leisure for another year, and the freezing of all alcohol duty until 1 August 2024. This will be good news for these sectors, where businesses are particularly struggling with increasing costs and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on demand.

The full expensing change was broadly welcomed by businesses – though it will benefit more research-intensive industries rather than service sectors – and it was also noted that by the Federation of Small Businesses that some of the major concerns of SME businesses were addressed, such as late payments and small business rates. Other measures supporting investment have been welcomed by organisations such as the British Venture Capital Association.

However, larger retailers and other hospitality businesses will still have to face an increase in the standard business rates multiplier by the September 2023 CPI rate of 6.7%. The OBR analysis confirmed that though the tax cuts in the Autumn Statement reduce the UK tax burden by 0.7% of GDP, the tax burden continues to rise and will reach a post-war high of nearly 38% of GDP by 2028/29. Increases to the National Living Wage also represent additional costs for businesses. In addition, organisations like the Institute of Directors noted that there was a lack of comprehensive measures for tackling skills shortages that also impact business prospects.

Ultimately, whilst welcoming some of the measures, businesses will be looking at the reduced growth figures – with a rate of 0.7% now predicted for 2024 – as well as the lagging inflation and interest rates with trepidation and steeling themselves for continued challenging times.

Our CEO Milly Camley and IFT accredited member Kim Curry wrote about the difficulties for local authority budgets and some options for addressing these.

A tipping point for local authorities – local government challenges and opportunities

 

 

The IFT Annual Awards, the most prestigious awards to celebrate business turnaround and the UK’s world class turnaround experts, recognises individuals and companies.

The winners are as follows:

Large Company Turnaround of the Year – PwC for Travelex. This was a multi-year turnaround, with an emphasis on leadership. The team were persistent, adapted when required and shared their energy and motivation across the company. The case showed determination, resilience and commitment to deliver the turnaround plan, which was shared by employees, shareholders, the Barclays led lender group and PwC, leading the business back to profitability.

Mid-market Turnaround of the Year – Rcapital for Cluttons. he judges stated that this was a truly remarkable turnaround, transformation, and exit. Facing challenging trading conditions, Cluttons embarked on a journey to return to growth through successful financial restructuring, strategic repositioning, and technological innovation alongside a commitment to ESG principles. Cluttons is a heritage brand, and the turnaround enabled it to respond to the contemporary environment, echoing the IFT’s message: Adapt, Transform, Succeed.

SME Turnaround of the Year – Barclays for Salvatori Group of Companies. The judges remarked upon the resilience showed by this historically successful business in overcoming the challenges associated with a premises move, overrunning costs and profitability issues. The submission showcased the rock-solid dependability of the business support team, which enabled the management team to guide their own return to profitability

Community Impact Turnaround of the Year – BDO for HCT Group, a social enterprise and registered charity providing a range of vital community transport services. This turnaround presented a challenging case, with a lot at stake for the communities served. The judges remarked on the commitment of the leadership team, and differing skills displayed by those members of our turnaround community who were involved. The turnaround enabled the continued provision of essential services to vulnerable groups, and saved over 1,000 jobs.

DLA Piper picked up Legal Adviser of the Year. This firm has long been known for its breadth of expertise across sectors. The cases and programmes cited in their submission indicated a commitment to turnaround outcomes, and engagement across stakeholder groups. DLA Piper demonstrated that they are working at the leading edge of turnaround practice by championing Part 26a Restructuring Plans and securing notable sanctions.

Alvarez and Marsal has achieved remarkable growth and delivered exceptional solutions for clients, including as an early pioneer of Part 26a Restructuring Plans, to win in the category of Turnaround Adviser of the Year. Their submission demonstrated a spread of sector activity and great engagement with stakeholders.

Enact Fund has continued to cement its position as a leading transformational investor in the UK lower mid-market and wins Special Situations Private Equity Provider of the Year. Enact have established a strong operating model, enabling portfolio companies to drive success, with a clear commitment to sustainability and ESG practice. The team evidenced strong outcomes across portfolio companies, predicated on turnaround excellence – demonstrating the IFT brand: adapt, transform, succeed.

Blazehill Capital picked up the award for Special Situations Debt Provider of the Year. As a relatively new entrant, the marketplace has taken note and Blazehill are already recognised for their skill in both origination and managing problems. Their profile as a flexible lender, providing more choice for UK mid-market companies, is combined with a commitment to social causes.

Bringing together leading independent turnaround directors and the best lenders, investors, advisory and legal firms in turnaround, we are also delighted to celebrate individual successes.

The winner of Independent Turnaround Adviser of the Year for this year was Donald Muir. Donald is well known as a turnaround leader and his most recent large turnaround showcased his outstanding leadership skills, his ability to inspire others to excellent results and the trust he builds with stakeholders.

This is the first year The IFT had independent advisers and a boutique apply to win the independent adviser award, which prompted the judges’ decision to make two awards, with Taiga Associates taking home Independent Boutique Adviser of the Year. The judges recognised the technical excellence and EQ of all team members and their commitment to the turnaround cases they approach, no matter how big, small or challenging. Taiga support a range of companies across different sectors, and are able to provide a blend of skills to support privately owned smaller businesses, PE backed mid markets and Plcs.

Finally, our Rising Star Award went to Nashiba Shafiq of PwC, who has worked across a range of projects with a variety of stakeholders – and her personal impact came across very compellingly in her citations. Starting as a school leaver, she shows maturity beyond her years in her ability to lead, to influence change and to make a difference for future generations.

Andy Leeser, Chairman of The IFT said: “I am delighted to congratulate all our winners and showcase some of the projects our members and partners are involved in.

They work hard at restoring value to organisations in very difficult situations. Since 2020 businesses have faced a rollercoaster of disruption and the pressure is showing in the insolvency rate, which rose 27% in June 2023 compared with a year earlier, taking it to the highest level since the 2008-9 financial crisis.

The work of our members and corporate partners will remain pivotal.”

Milly Camley, CEO of The IFT said:

“I would like to congratulate all the winners in a year of highly competitive submissions demonstrating what an incredible job all our members have been doing over the last year.  The quality and impact of that work was reflected in the number of quality of submissions we received for the awards this year.

Those contributions are also reflected in the findings of our recent societal impact survey, which estimated that IFT accredited members saved in excess of 55,000 jobs and £2.6bn in shareholder value in the year 2022-23. When we factor in the work of our partners the number of jobs saved rises to just shy of 150,000.”

When businesses go bust, the economic fallout can be catastrophic. Individuals – and sometimes large parts of the community – lose their jobs. Vital services cease overnight. Enterprise value – a vital underpinning of a dynamic economy – is lost.

In this report, Unlocking Value, Saving Jobs: The Contribution of Turnaround to Business and People, we shine a light on the huge contribution IFT members make and the value they create for society and the economy.

IFT members preserve jobs and livelihoods, uphold local industries, protect economic value and strengthen public service organisations.  In this report, we estimate that in 2019 IFT members and corporate partners saved more than 200,000 jobs and protected £2 billion in enterprise value.

Our research, which predates the Covid-19 disruption, also shows that in 2019 over 130,000 companies in the UK were showing signs of distress. We expect the spread of Covid-19 to drive higher demand for turnaround services for the remainder of 2020 and beyond. That is why this report broadens understandings of turnaround as an essential business discipline that can help avoid unnecessary insolvencies, especially at a time when business recovery is even more important to the economy and to people.

To download the report please click here.

To download the IFT press release for this report please click here.

For press information and media enquiries please contact:

Francesca Rivett-Carnac (francesca@standagency.com / 07966 227 390)

Grace French (grace@standagency.com / 07906 630 501)

 

You can also view and download our infographics for the report:

DNA of a Turnaround Director 

Key Turnaround Measures 

The Stages of a Turnaround 

Turnaround Timeline