Recovering £290,000 for Creditors after a Court Winding Up
Background
Our practice was approached by a petitioning creditor who had obtained a winding‑up order against a company. The creditor sought a liquidator willing to investigate the company’s affairs, review the director’s conduct, and identify potential recovery avenues that might return funds to creditors.
Our Appointment and Initial Investigations
After reviewing available information, including open‑source intelligence, social media activity, and accounting data we accepted the appointment as liquidators.
Early enquiries revealed that the company’s hard‑copy books and records had been moved to a storage unit in Essex. We negotiated with the landlord to secure access and protect any assets held there.
Inside the unit, we found:
- Residual stock, later sold by valuation agents
- Significant volumes of discarded records, including bin bags filled with documents, shredded paper, and waste paper
- Vital financial information, including credit records and evidence relating to the director’s personal wealth
Deep‑Dive Investigation
We conducted extensive enquiries of:
- Creditors
- The company’s accountant and bankers
- HM Revenue & Customs
- Government COVID‑19 support schemes
- The director’s disqualification, and
- Criminal proceedings brought against the director
Identifying Claims Against the Director
Our review of the recovered records uncovered improper withdrawals made by the director, including payments to credit card companies for personal expenses such as wedding costs.
We instructed solicitors to pursue recovery, resulting in:
- A statutory demand issued against the director
- A protracted but ultimate successful negotiation
Our persistence led to a £290,000 settlement paid into the liquidation.
This enabled us to:
- Reimburse the petitioning creditor’s costs, and
- Return funds to the company’s creditors, who had expected no recovery at all