Pull up the credit drawbridge on late payers as thousands of firms begin to go bust as the dam bursts on the Covid Crisis

The collapse has started as firms go to wall in their thousands. Since December and the announcement the Covid Crisis would continue into the summer with an extended furlough period company directors have been throwing in the towel.

Ian Carrotte of the credit intelligence group ICSM Credit said it was the worst he had known since the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s. “Even the Credit Crunch in 2008 wasn’t like this,” he said, “this downturn is like a slow motion crash. Since last March you could see the effect of forcing businesses to repeatedly close or be heavily restricted. Deny viable companies their customers and they don’t have a business. You can only survive for so long on grants and furlough payments. Fixed costs and debts don’t go away and that’s what is finishing off vets, hotels, shops, pubs, events companies and many more. My advice is to stop giving credit to any business that seems at all risky - in fact pull up the credit drawbridge as the dam is about to burst as furlough ends.”

Hotels shut down

In Devon the Atlantic Bay Hotel has called in the administrators just weeks before an expected staycation boom, while in Wales the Caer Rhun Hall Hotel and the Carmarthen Bay Hotel are both looking for salvation. Compulsory liquidators have been appointed for the Centrepoint Hotel while the Llandudno Bay Hotel & Spa has appointed administrators and the QHotels group has been liquidated. Laura Ashley Hotel Elstree appointed liquidators and there were compulsory liquidators installed to rake over the ashes of the Renaldy Hotels Limited and Shepherd Cox Hotels. The list goes on and on but you get the picture from one end of the country to the other the industry is facing the worst crisis in several generations with hospitality workers sacked in their tens of thousands.

Casualties mount up

The utilities are not exempt from the bonfire of businesses. Robin Hood Energy Limited have finally hit the buffers after some difficult trading and in sport  the professional football club Bury FC is subject to a meeting with the administrators – previous Wigan Athletic FC are close to disappearing. In Wigan alone two shopping arcades have gone into administration. And as for retail - well know about Debenhams and TopShop - but there are countless others closing along with their suppliers.

Construction

The Government’s target of building a million homes over five years looks under threat as house builders go out business due to a lack of demand and curtailments on their activities. Compulsory liquidators have been appointed to DMC Homes Limited, Nicholas Barry Construction Limited  and Thomas A. Ashton Developments Limited while liquidators have been appointed to Allbrook Construction Limited, A McCulley Construction & Contracting and Meadowvale Homes Limited. Everyday several more building firms collapse along with the contractors and suppliers who form part of the industrial sector. And that fall in demand includes rental accommodation - and if students don’t go back to college due to Covid then more firms like London Luton Chapel Street Student Accommodation Limited and London Luton New Street Student Accommodation will go to the wall.

This month

Every sector you can think of is seeing businesses collapsing some are obviously in trouble like pubs and cruise liners, while dentists and vets are not immune as the London Gazette reveals in their daily lists of bad news. Even on Christmas Day dozens of firms went down the pan. These are unprecedented times.

About ICSM Credit

ICSM Credit has more than four decades of experience as a credit intelligence group whose members gain inside information about firms in trouble allowing them to avoid bad debts and rogue traders. To join costs less than a tank of fuel - while at the moment there's a special free temporary membership offer during the Covid-19 crisis which gives access to free legal letters. ICSM also has an effective debt collecting service which has a global reach - ask for details from Paul.

For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com on how to subscribe and to join the UK’s credit intelligence network to avoid bad debts and late payers. Follow ICSM Credit on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube and Ian Carrotte on LinkedIn.

To keep up to date subscribe to the FREE ICSM Credit Newsletter to hear all the latest insolvency news and to see who has gone out of business click on the orange panel on the top left of the home page of the website www.icsmcredit.com or send an email to Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com

For details for the work of the journalist Harry Mottram visit www.harrymottram.co.uk