Business rescue finance case studies (illustrative)

Both case studies are illustrative. They are composites built from deal structures that UK lenders and insolvency firms report publicly, simplified for clarity. They are not clients of LTD Turnaround, the names are generic, and the figures are indicative of deal size rather than quotes anyone should expect. Every real situation needs its own advice from a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner and, on the funding side, an FCA-authorised broker.

A regional construction contractor entered a CVA after a major customer's insolvency left it with unpayable arrears. Two years in, further contract losses made the CVA contributions unaffordable and the company entered administration. The management team, advised throughout by the administrator on process and by their own solicitor on the name and conduct rules, formed a new company to buy the business and key assets. The purchase was supported by an independent valuation and an evaluator's report as a connected-party sale. The funding package was built on what the new company was acquiring: an invoice finance facility of around £500,000 against the acquired debtor book provided the working capital, and roughly £48,000 of asset finance funded the plant the new company needed to keep contracts running. The old company's creditors received the sale proceeds; the jobs and contracts survived; the new company traded from day one with funding that scaled with its invoicing.

A haulage operator hit a squeeze familiar across the sector: fuel and wage costs rising monthly, customers paying on 60-day terms, and HMRC arrears building. An insolvency practitioner reviewed the position and concluded the business was viable: profitable on current contracts, with the problem confined to timing of cash. Rather than a formal procedure, the plan combined a Time to Pay arrangement on the tax arrears with a £150,000 invoice finance facility arranged against the debtor book, releasing most of the value of each invoice on issue instead of two months later. The facility closed the timing gap that had been feeding the arrears, the TTP cleared the historic debt over 12 months, and the company avoided insolvency entirely. The decisive step was the viability assessment coming first: the same facility bolted onto an unviable business would only have delayed a failure and worsened it.

Three things. First, the funding followed the advice: in both cases a professional assessed the position before any borrowing was arranged, which is the sequence this series is built on. Second, asset-based products did the heavy lifting, because invoices and equipment hold their value as security even when the company's own record is damaged; the mechanics are covered in phoenix company finance and invoice finance during a CVA. Third, the legal safeguards, valuation, the evaluator, the name rules, were treated as part of the deal, not obstacles to it. That is what a clean rescue looks like.

LTD Turnaround is an information and introduction service. We do not provide legal, insolvency or financial advice. Insolvency matters are referred to a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner. Finance is referred separately, and only after insolvency advice, to an FCA-authorised broker. We may receive a referral fee; this does not affect what you pay or the service you receive.

Reusing a company name, buying assets from a company you were a director of, or taking on new borrowing while the company is insolvent can carry criminal and personal liability risk. Before acting, take advice from a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner and, where a company name or disqualification question is involved, a solicitor.