EY reaches settlement over long-running $7.3bn Nortel Networks bankruptcy saga October 13, 2016 A settlement has been reached in the long-running global insolvency of Canadian telecoms giant Nortel Networks' European-based companies. Three groups of creditors, including 33,000 UK pensioners, Canadian pensioners and US bondholders, had been unable to agree who gets what from the $7.3bn (£6bn) to be distributed since the company’s collapse seven years ago. The battle has been over [...]
National living wage pushes tens of thousands of companies into financial distress October 11, 2016 Nearly 100,000 businesses have been pushed into financial distress due to the introduction of the national living wage six months ago. According to data from insolvency firm Begbies Traynor, 97,342 firms impacted by the introduction of the national living wage are now struggling financially, an increase of 23 per cent since the legislation came into [...]
Arcadia paid BHS head office staff to “stem tide of resignations” October 11, 2016 Arcadia paid £2m to staff in BHS' head office to keep them from leaving as the business collapsed into administration. In a statement, ex-BHS Darren Topp said nearly 100 people resigned in four weeks from the end of March 2016, and the money from Arcadia was used to "stem the tide of resignations". Read more: Insolvency Service [...]
The Pensions Regulator is seeking more power to stop another BHS-style pensions crisis October 11, 2016 The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is seeking more powers to prevent another pensions crisis on the scale of BHS'. In evidence given to the Work and Pensions select committee, TPR has called for a mandatory clearance process for some corporate transactions, such as a company being sold when its pension scheme is underfunded, as was the [...]
Expert for select committee slams Bernard Matthews’ sale and takes aim at insolvency laws October 10, 2016 Evidence submitted to an influential committee of MPs has highlighted concerns over the fate of the Bernard Matthews' pension scheme which has been a casualty the turkey company's pre-pack administration. According evidence submitted by Professor Prem Sikka, Bernard Matthew's administrator Deloitte "carefully crafted" a strategy to "dump" the pension scheme. He has reported his findings to the Work [...]
Oil price crash and Brexit woes fuel number of firms de-listing from AIM October 10, 2016 The number of firms de-listing from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has jumped by a fifth in the last year as financial stress took hold. Accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young found that 107 companies de-listed in the last year, up from 89 on the 12 months before. While insolvency and financial stress proved the most frequent [...]
BHS.com’s average order value jumps in its first week of trading October 9, 2016 Customers of BHS.com spent more on their individual orders in its first week of trading, a sign that the recently relaunched online retailer's strategy is paying off. BHS.com said that the average order value rose to £65 between the 29th September and 5th October, up from £50 on its old website before the company stopped trading. Read more: [...]
As a beleaguered Deutsche Bank faces a $14bn fine, Angela Merkel has ruled out state aid, but could a bailout be on the cards? September 27, 2016 Recent discussion of possible European bank bailouts has focused on Italy. Saddled with €360bn of souring loans and enfeebled by a stagnant, over-regulated economy, a number of Italian lenders face a very real risk of insolvency. In July, the country’s third largest, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, failed a stress test set by the European Central [...]
BHS to target younger customers as it makes a comeback in the UK September 26, 2016 You may have thought BHS had shut up shop for good but now a Qatari group wants to rebuild its fortunes in the UK by targeting younger customers. The British brand – but not its shops – was acquired by The Al Mana Group back in June, along with BHS.com and BHS' international business. Since [...]
Business groups write to communities secretary Sajid Javid to campaign against changes to business rates September 25, 2016 Groups representing retailers and small businesses have come together to write to communities secretary Sajid Javid to urge him to pull back on changes to business rates. Business rates are being re-evaluated, and changes proposed for the way business rates are valued could "sink individual businesses into hardship", the lobby groups warned. Read more: West End gets [...]