For the last few months people and businesses have become used to the twilight world of the Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions. Dispel the apathy and a feeling the situation will continue indefinitely - as the furlough and restrictions will end very soon. Thousands of businesses are hanging on and managing to stay afloat with the furlough payments, grants and loans, but anecdotally we are aware that vast numbers will go bust when the lifelines run out. The loans taken out last spring come due for repayment in the next few weeks, furlough ends in April and most have spent their grants already. 

This is a call for action! Do not allow apathy or a feeling nothing can be done to take hold, but contact me at ICSM Credit today and start checking out your clients' ability to survive. Every month we list a fraction of the firms that have gone into administration or are being liquidated - and everyday we hear the latest on firms in trouble. Missed payments, phone calls not returned, excuses made about settling overdue accounts. These are signs of problems ahead and as members of ICSM Credit you can make use of the huge resources available to you.

There are our FREE legal letters which usually settle around 80% of all outstanding invoices - and our micro-debt recovery service is highly effective on those smaller invoices you've written off that maybe months or even years overdue. So don't delay - contact ICSM Credit today and make use of your membership and ensure your firm survives the crisis.

Do check out our website with its news and follow me on social media on Twitter and LinkedIn - and ICSM Credit on Twitter and FaceBook. Stay safe and call me for any free advice about how to use the website - it could save you thousands.

Best wishes
Ian Carrotte
Proprietor of ICSM Credit
For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com




ICSM Credit, the Exchange, Express Park, Bristol Road, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 4RR

Not a member? Normally you can join for less than a tank of diesel and protect yourself from late payers but we have a special free temporary membership offer month. Use our free legal letters to chase unpaid invoices.

For a video on how to send a FREE LEGAL LETTER visit: https://youtu.be/AIycysoFhYo

++++++++++++++

 

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.

++++++++++++++

Domesday 2021: Up to a million businesses to go bust when furloughing ends as ICSM Credit warns of the economy’s ‘ticking time bomb’

There is a ticking time bomb in the British economy and it is set to explode later this year. In a report by the former prime minister Gordon Brown published this week an estimated 900,000 small businesses are at risk of going to the wall when the furlough scheme ends.

The BBC reported:  “As support schemes like furlough and business loan programmes end, companies are at risk of insolvency, according to the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) and the Alliance for Full Employment (AFFE).”

The CEP and AFFE are backed by Gordon Brown who has warned that many firms are in effect facing disaster once the Government’s support ends in April or May.

Act now

Ian Carrotte of ICSM Credit said the country was sleepwalking to a Domesday scenario as so many businesses were supported by the furlough scheme and had become used to the hand-outs.

“When those Government backed loans end this spring and the furlough scheme is scrapped then up to a million firms are potentially insolvent,” he said. “I implore all businesses to look at their credit situation and overheads and act now to save your enterprise.”

Budget opportunity

Gordon Brown said: “If we are to save good small businesses that are innovative and forward looking but which, without help with their investment plans, are in danger of going under, the Budget must bring forward measures.”

Hospitality

Ian Carrotte noted that the Chancellor Rishi Sunak had announced grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses to keep afloat until spring, worth up to £9,000 per property.

He welcomed the new help as a good start but warned the money still wouldn't be enough to save many firms from collapse but said without opening up the economy after Easter then there would be a full scale recession for three successive quarters and millions out of work.

Bad debts

Ian Carrotte said: “This next two months is really the last chance of many firms getting paid outstanding invoices. We help members of ICSM to chase up unpaid bills – some dating from almost a year ago. Our debt collection department has pulled in more than a hundred thousand pounds for members since late last year. Applying pressure on debtors results in being paid - because if you don’t and they go into administration this Easter you won’t get your money.”

^{Kelly Hooper, owner of beauty and wellness salon The Barn in Somerset}

Small businesses

The BBC reported on examples of firms struggling to survive including George Ktori who was still paying bills despite his restaurant closing its doors. Mr Ktori, who owns Yamas Meze and Tapas in Nottingham, employs ten staff, says his business is making 10% of the sales it had done prior to COVID-19, through takeaways and meal boxes.

He took out a Bounce Back loan, designed for small businesses, "but that's only gone so far," he said. He is now considering the larger, and pricier, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) loan. Kelly Hooper, owner of beauty and wellness salon The Barn in Somerset, is making money through selling some products online, she said.

"It's hard," she told the BBC. "This month is really, really hard."Any longer and there's a chance we won't be able to survive, unless we go into further debt."

"The online business has been ok, it's allowed us to survive," she told the Today programme. "Where we struggle is we have a bricks and mortar place. We have rent, insurance, lease hire of machines, we have that base we have to pay out whether we are open or closed."

++++++++++++++

ICSM Credit Print Industry News: Question mark over The Print Show; Print Week lists dodgy goings on; how is the trade press doing; and listed: more printers go bust

The print industry has been under pressure for years as the internet has caused a decline in the sector as ink on substrate is replaced by websites and emails. Covid-19 has accelerated that decline as people can’t shop as normal for newspapers, pick up leaflets and brochures - and the clients of printers are hit by a drop in revenue.

Dodgy goings on

The printing and allied industries has a wide variety of press coverage with an increasing overlap from publishers interested in packaging and label printing. Print Week has for a generation been the go-to publication for the sector. Their editorial team have listed some of their most read stories on their website and in their own words it’s something of a list of dodgy goings one. The top story concerned a group of forgers in Beckenham in Kent who were jailed for conspiring to print £12m of bank notes in 2019. Next up was the was now infamous haircut of a print company director who was disqualified for nine years for not paying VAT. It was Jasvir Singh Dhillon's mullet haircut which caught the eye of more than one reader - with one comment being he should have done two years for that haircut. The convicted director of Deluxe Printers Ltd of London didn't go to jail despite the huge amounts involved.

However there was some good news in Print Week with trade printers picking up work that would normally go to Europe, but due to the Brexit trade deal’s red tape and costs it made using UK printers more cost effective. And another upshot of the Covid-19 crisis was the increase in book sales meaning more printing and publishing work for the industry.

Administration

The list of printers going to the wall is increasing – matched only by the numbers of almost all industries seeing business failure caused by the Covid-19 shutdowns. In the last few days the London Gazette as published a list of those in trouble, in administration or being liquidated. They include JW Brown (Printers) Limited, Paperchase Products Limited, Gentle Gallery Publishing Limited, Jam Marketing (UK) Limited, YMS Design Limited, Design + Print Limited, Green Media Advertising Limited, Pinstripe Print Limited, William West Printing Limited, Plastic Packaging United Limited, A C Cooper (Neg and Print) Limited, Eazy Printing Limited, Odessa Print Group Limited, Retail Print Solutions Limited, STB Printing Limited, Process Print (Labelling and Design) Limited and Souvenir Press Limited to name but a few from a list that is too long to print here.

Trade Press

Calling yourself a printing industry news publisher means you really need to print a regular magazine all about the sector. Print Monthly suspended printing their monthly magazine several months ago and have left it to their website to publish news – mainly by journalist Rob Fletcher – because as ICSM Credit understands for the most part the staff are on furlough. It also suspended the weekly video news along with their equivalent for the sign industry. That means there’s a question mark about the Print Show also run by Link Publishing and Print Monthly, as it is slated for this September. Meanwhile arch rivals Print Week continue to publish their magazine and fill their website news section with many a story – covering not just the industry’s innovations and business updates – but the dark side as well with accidents, closures and administrations. Digital Printer also continues to publish their magazine and reading between the lines have appeared to have taken over some of the territory covered in the past by Print Monthly - so some good news from the sector that needs competition. Print Business has also continued with Gareth Ward’s in depth knowledge of the industry dating back to the era of Printing World where he was the editor until 2005. While he continues to write all is well with the sector despite Covid.

++++++++++++++

A story of our times: retailer Boohoo acquires Debenhams brand and intellectual property rights in £55m deal (but not the stock, shops, staff or invoices from unpaid suppliers)

The bastion of the High Street that was the Debenhams department store is about to disappear for good although its name will live on as an online retailer. Ian Carrotte of ICSM Credit is summed up the trend of the 2020 Covid Crisis in retail.

He said: “Bricks and mortar retailers are disappearing as shoppers denied the freedom to browse in the stores are forced into clicking on a mouse at a picture of something that may or may not be what they want. It was changing before Covid as for many reasons online shopping was booming – in part due to its convenience but I don’t believe it is the end of the high street as a place to buy. People like shopping as it is part of the human condition that’s been around since shops were invented by the Romans and Greeks thousands of years ago.”

Mixed fortunes

BooHoo were put under pressure last year when ICSM Credit and a swathe of investigators revealed they were paying many of their supply workers less than the minimum wage. They launched a so-called investigation which at first was a PR exercise but was later revealed to be a sham. Since then they have tried to get their house in order while their low cost fashion items continued to sell well boosting their revenue while rivals saw sales fall. Hence they felt in a strong position to bid for the Debenhams brand.

^{Steel workers protest over job losses in 1980 - now even more jobs are going in retail}

Job losses

Ian Carrotte said thousands of suppliers had been taken to the cleaners over collapsing retailers as one after another they fell into administration. He said: “I’m not singling out Debenhams as there are a long list of chains and stores that have left printers, sign-makers, hauliers, shop fitters and many others unpaid. And there’s the small matter of 175,000 jobs in retail that went in 2020 along with more in the supply chain. You have to go back to the end of the steel and coal industries or the closure of the railways under Beeching for similar job losses – and that is a cost to the economy which takes years to put right.”

++++++++++++++

Runners and Riders
Below is a collated list taken from the Government’s London Gazette of various businesses who are experiencing problems in the last few weeks. It is a cross section of industry and the various sectors but is not an exhaustive list. Many of the big retailers have either gone like the Arcadia Group and Debenhams or are wobbling - often taking their suppliers with them. Quite a few printers, hotels, construction firms and retailers are included on the list below with also includes less likely victims of the recession such as vets.

Visit ICSM Credit's website for the latest firms in trouble and many more stories at ICSM - Take Control Of Your Finances (icsmcredit.com)(icsmcredit.com)

Administrators Appointed
Afan Valley Limited  44196
Atlantic Bay Hotel (Woolacombe) Limited 44196
Black Hangar Studios Limited  44210
Covrad Heat Transfer Limited  44208
Caer Rhun Hall Hotel Limited  44196
Carmarthen Bay Hotel Limited  44196
Creative Digital Images Limited  44208
Dining Street Limited  25.01.2021
Holdio Eagle LLP  44200
Holdio Holdco Limited  44200
Holdio Interco Limited  44200
Holdio Midco Limited  44200
Holdio Topco Limited  44200
JWT Commercial Limited  44207
London Luton Chapel Street Student Accommodation Limited  25.01.2021
London Luton New Street Student Accommodation Limited  25.01.2021
Llandudno Bay Hotel & Spa Limited  44196
MBI Clifton Moor Limited  44196
Paperchase Products Limited  44225
Renew Financial Management Limited  22.01.2021
Robin Hood Energy Limited  44207
Secret Ingredient Limited  44200
The Old Golf House Hotel Limited  44196
 
Administrators Meetings Para 51
Bury Football Club Company Limited(the)  22.01.2021
 
Compulsory Liquidators Appointed s 136
ADA Riverside Limited  44210
Advanced Machine Tool Systems Limited  44210
Centrepoint Hotel Sales and Support Limited  44210
DMC Homes Limited  44210
Film Star Paint Protection Limited  44210
Modern Learning Strategies Limited 44210
Nicholas Barry Construction Limited 44210
Real-Time Software Systems Limited 44210
Rela8 Events Limited 44210
Sophie’s Handbag and Accessories Limited 44210
Tahira Supermarket Limited  44210
The Stove Gallery Limited 44210
There You Go Marketing Solutions  44215
Thomas A. Ashton Developments Limited  44204
 
Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation Deemed in Consent Meetings
A McCulley Construction & Contracting Limited  44200
Azure Designs International Limited  44207
BSE Mayfair Limited  44200
Coursebox Limited  44200
Freelanceocity Limited  44203
Furniture Central Limited  44215
Gentle Gallery Publishing Limited 44210
G Lec Railway Services Limited  44215
Grand Arcade Wigan Limited  44215
Hardings Travel Limited  44209
HS Steel UK Limited  44209
Hunter Patel Creative Limited  44215
Istanbul Kitchen Limited  44207
Jam Marketing (UK) Limited  22.01.2021
LDH Plant Limited  44207
Middlesborough Access & Construction Specialists Limited 44210
Proveer Technology Limited  44203
O'Malley Joinery Limited  44207
Olive Tree Brasserie Stockton H Limited  22.01.2021
Q-Energy Limited  22.01.2021
RS Contract Labour Limited  44207
SPD Construction Limited  44215
Standishgate Wigan Limited  44215
T & L Jones Joinery Limited  44203
The Skegness Coffee Bean Limited  44200
Ward Woolston Group Limited  44207
YMS Design Limited  44203
 
Liquidators Appointed
365 Productions (UK) Limited  44216
ACO Media Limited  44215
Alberts Formal Wear Limited  44216
Allbrook Construction Limited  44207
A McCulley Construction & Contracting Ltd  44208
55 Pixels Limited  44204
Bibby Hydromap Limited  44204
Bramley Ferry Supplies Limited  44208
Britain’s Heritage Limited  44207
Charing Meats (Kent) Limited  44207
Colonie Restaurants Limited  44209
Data Baby Direct Marketing Limited  44201
Design + Print Limited  44201
Diesel Industrial Electrical Spares and Equipment (London) Limited  44200
D.A.W Trade Supplies Limited  44203
Delightful Desserts Limited  44203
Elm Heritage of Oundle Limited  44201
Enjoys Pizza Limited  44208
Fantasy and Comic Emporium Limited  22.01.2021
Ffresh Produce Limited  22.01.2021
G W Catering Services Limited  44209
Green Media Advertising Limited  44208
Goodley Bullen PR Limited  44225
JSS Light Haulage Limited  44210
J.P. Distribution Limited  44207
Jordan Golf Limited  22.01.202
Leisure Liners Limited  44204
LL Bathroom Design Ltd  44215
Manchester Logistics Ltd  44204
Maxwells Restaurants Limited  44196
Midland Gate and Barriers Limited  44203
MJH Fashions Limited  44225
Moveright International Limited  44207
Meadowvale Homes Limited  44208
Munro Market Research Limited  25.01.2021
No Defects Construction Limited  44208
Norwich Smart Taxis Ltd  44203
Newtimber Media Ltd  44201
Newsbox Express Limited  44196
Oaklea Drafting Limited  44208
Phoenix Property (NW) Ltd  44208
Pick It Pack It Send It Limited  44201
Pinstripe Print Limited  22.01.2021
Pizza & Pasta Factory Ltd  44196
RK Inspection Limited  44201
Rosedale Ink Limited  44204
RA Bike Limited  44208
Randal Noland Media Limited  44208
Savage Logistics Limited  44208
Saunders Surfacing Limited  44203
Sea Salt Restaurants Limited  44203
The Corner Shop Public Relations Limited  44216
The Skegness Coffee Bean Limited  44216
Turkish Spice Limited  44216
Tommy Cooper Haulage Limited  44215
Turner Transport Limited  22.01.2021
Wildfire Teepees Limited  22.01.2021
William West Printing Limited  44201
 
Members Voluntary Liquidations
5 Star Computer Systems Limited  44207
A.S.R. Computers Limited  44207
Advanced Business Solutions CRM Limited  44207
Advanced Communications Software and Solutions Limited  44207
Advanced Enterprise Software Limited  44207
Advanced Field Service Solutions Limited  44207
Advanced Sharpowl Software Limited  44207
Akany Designs Limited  44207
Audentes Therapeutics UK Limited  44535
Benchmark Kitchens Limited  44535
Berwick Hills Dental Practice Limited  44196
Brancepeth Distributions Limited  44209
Broughton Farm Caravans Limited  44210
Calder Vets Limited  44196
Connects Design Limited  44215
Emperor Digital Limited  44535
Erudite Medical Writing Limited  44207
F.C. Dawes & Son Limited  44207
First Class Digital Limited  44207
Harman Automotive UK Limited  44204
JW Brown (Printers) Limited  44216
Law Diary Limited  44207
Martin Service Station Limited  44204
Nordic Packaging and Container (UK) Holdings Limited  44207
Penfold Heath Media Limited  44207
Osprey Foods International Limited  44203
Oxford Business Systems UK Limited  44203
Plastic Packaging United Limited  25.01.2021
Premier Site Services (UK) Limited  44535
Qhotels Holdings Limited  44207
Qhotels Services Limited  44207
Severnside Construction Limited  44215
Sun Traffic Limited  44203
The Holmes Care (Bathgate) Limited  44210
The Holmes Care (Greenock) Limited  44210
The Chess Veterinary Clinic Limited  44196
The Oaks Clinic (Holding) Company Limited  44196
The Oaks Veterinary Company Limited  44196
Traffic Management Services Limited  44203
Wildside Press Limited  22.01.2021
Woodward Veterinary Practice Limited  44196
 
Petitions to Wind Up
C7 Brands Limited  44208
Ebullio Invest Limited  44208
Ebullio Return Special Purpose Vehicle Limited  44208
eCommodities Plc  44208
FS Equestrian Services Limited  44208
Manor Supplies UK Limited  44204
R T Construction Limited  44201
Syska Acoustics Limited  44204
Shaftesbury Building Contractors Limited 44201
Templar Corporation Limited  44200
 
Winding Up Dismissal
Advanced Optical Limited  44203
 
Winding up orders
Wardells Design Limited  44209