If Things Go Wrong
It's not something we want to have to go through but sometimes things can go wrong and it is vital to have a team of experienced experts behind you to help face the challenges of owning a business.
If things don’t work out with the business, as a director there are still statutory obligations, you cannot simply walk away from what is effectively a standalone separate entity. Particularly if the director plans to set up another company in the future, it is important to dispose of a company correctly.
Disposing of a company can be a complex process requiring the input of experienced experts. There can be issues around share allocation, changes of directors and the company’s constitution.
Company Professionals only deal with fully insured members of the Association of Company Registration Agents.
Accountants can provide support if a company faces financial difficulties including looking at loan facilities or negotiation with HMRC. Many also provide support in relation to HMRC investigations and are experienced in working closely with Insolvency Practitioners.
Company Professionals only deal with fully insured Chartered Accountants registered with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) or Association of International Accountants (AIA).
Making team members redundant can be one of the toughest challenges a business owner can face. The process must be managed as professionally and pragmatically as possible. The consequence of not doing so can be very expensive as well as time consuming. Also, there may be situations where employees must leave the business. Depending on their length of service there are various statutory protections that employees have.
To avoid time consuming and expensive legal proceedings, it is important that this is managed sensitively and professionally often through Settlement Agreements (previously known as Compromise Agreements), the terms of which are reached following negotiation and where the former employee agrees not to make any future claims under the terms of the agreement.
It is important to ensure that you have access to experienced HR professionals to navigate through this difficult process.
Company Professionals only deal with fully insured members of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
No Company ever wants to face litigation, if and when it does happen, be it a contractual dispute, allegation of negligence, or even an internal dispute between company shareholders, franchisees or a joint venture partner. When these disputes happen, then you need an experienced team of solicitors on your side.
Not only do you need technically excellent practitioners but they also need to be pragmatic and conscious of the realistic impact any form of litigation will have on the business, so are willing to looking at alternative dispute options, seeing litigation very much as a last resort. This ensures that the business survives and even learns from the trauma of litigation.
A well drafted commercial lease generally avoids any major problem in the future, but disputes do still happen leading to complex litigation making it vital to have commercial property experts on your side.
In the new era of individuals having the “right to be forgotten”, you need expert legal advice if as a holder of personal information the business becomes the subject of any investigation or proceedings brought by the Information Commissioner.
Company Professionals only deal with fully insured Solicitors registered with the Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority.