The Service
The team advises both prospectively in the management of assets and on planning for growth and retrospectively in the recovery of assets for creditors, whether secured or unsecured. The group has developed strengths in corporate recovery and business turnaround work.
Although we can advise you on all aspects of commercial insolvency, in particular we are able to advise you on the following topics:
Asset Management
The Group offers advice to companies, partnerships and individuals on the risks to assets secured as a means of financial growth and is able to negotiate and implement security documentation which, as far as possible, protects the investment of the lender or the needs of the borrower, with the need in mind to avoid agreements which are susceptible to attach as preferential or achieved at an undervalue.
Corporate Failure
We offer a wide range of advice to companies and their directors on the onset of insolvency and through its associations with professional licensed insolvency practitioners, is able to assist with:
- compulsory liquidations by order of the Court
- creditors voluntary liquidations
- members voluntary liquidations
by reference to the facts of each case and the legal framework provided for the orderly realisation of a company’s affairs, whether it is insolvent or, in the case of members' voluntary liquidations, to be wound up for some other reason.
Directors and Shareholders Responsibilities
From assisting with the decision of the Company Board to cease trading through the mechanisms of the winding up processes, the Group will advise directors or shareholders of their responsibilities and potential liabilities in relation to:
- shareholder calls
- directors responsibilities for wrongful trading
- fraudulent trading
- directors misfeasance and breach of duty
Equally, the Principals in the Insolvency Group are skilled in advising insolvency practitioners, whether appointed by the Court or company meeting, in the recovery of company assets for the benefit of the company's creditors. In particular, the group offers advice on:
- dispositions at an undervalue
- preferential payments and securities
- contributions from third parties to the insolvent estate
- the tracing of assets wrongly disposed
A further specialist service is offered to directors in relation to their conduct and prosecutions under the Directors Disqualification Act 1986 and to insolvency practitioners in the compilation of confidential reports to the Department of Trade and Industry in relation to such conduct.
Recovery and Reorganisation
The two key instruments of corporate protection and methods by which reorganisations are structured are Administration Orders and Company Voluntary Arrangements. In relation to each of these, the Group offers tailored advice on achieving the protection of an administration order or in achieving the less formal accord with creditors which is a voluntary arrangement.
In particular, the Principals offer advice as to:
- the purposes of an Administration Order
- preparation of the statutory reports and applications
- the voluntary arrangement proposal
- company and members meetings
- administration of the arrangement as approved
Whether advising the company and its board in considering the most suitable vehicle for reorganisation, or the necessary insolvency practitioner in the implementation of the Administration or Arrangement, the Group is geared towards achieving an orderly moratorium or breathing space for either company or practitioner as a means of facilitating reorganisation and recovery.
Personal Insolvency
Unusually for a City practice of its type, the insolvency unit at Druces has a specialised expertise in personal insolvency matters.
Areas of particular concern for the individual are always:
- pensions
- jointly owned assets
- post bankruptcy trading
- third party acquisition of bankruptcy assets
- safeguarding the home
Conversely, the insolvency unit offers advice and assistance to the duly appointed Trustee with:
- establishing the extent of the estate
- setting aside voidable transactions
- recovery of void dispositions pre-bankruptcy
- ensuring compliance by the bankrupt
- establishing creditor claims
Where circumstances permit, the Group is also able to advise on the formation of an individual voluntary arrangement as a method either of preventing the onset of bankruptcy or as a means of withdrawing from bankruptcy and providing a platform for annulment of the original order.
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