For UK company directors under pressure
HMRC arrears, supplier pressure, a winding-up petition on your desk. When it feels like the options have run out, they usually haven't — they have narrowed to the ones that need acting on now.
Sensecorporate advises directors on restructuring and turnaround: steadying the cash, dealing with HMRC and creditors, and rebuilding the business on terms it can keep. Plain answers, early — including when the honest answer is a hard one.
Where the pressure is coming from
What matters first is not how much you owe — it is which stage you are at, and how many days you have left.
PAYE, VAT, CIS and employee NIC sit in HMRC's secondary preferential class, so on insolvency they rank ahead of floating charge holders. A missed instalment can end the whole arrangement at once, with the full balance called in.
Why speed matters: HMRC has taken a firmer line on tax debt, and since April 2026 can recover undisputed debts of £1,000 or more directly from business bank accounts without first going to court.
A key supplier withdrawing credit, or a landlord recovering rent arrears through Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery, can stop you trading long before any court process starts. Supply is usually restored by clearing the arrears, not by negotiating around them.
Why speed matters: losing a critical supplier or the premises can remove the trading base that any funder would lend against.
A petition is not yet a liquidation. But advertisement in The Gazette is usually the point your bank freezes the account and counterparties react — and it can come quickly.
Why speed matters: advertisement may take place no sooner than 7 clear business days after the petition is served, and must be at least 7 clear business days before the hearing. From presentation, payments out of the company can be reversed later unless validated.
When a bank reduces an overdraft or calls in a facility, the gap has to be filled by finance that looks at what you own rather than your last two years of accounts.
Why speed matters: the replacement has to be in place before the withdrawal bites, or payroll and critical suppliers are affected within weeks.
Route finder
The right restructuring route depends on what is pressing, how long you have, and what the business owns — not on how profitable it was last year.
The routes
Most turnarounds use more than one of these. The earlier you start, the more of them are still on the table — and the less each one costs.
| Route | What it does | Key condition | Typical timescale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and cost review | A 13-week cash view, cost base and margin review — where every turnaround starts | Honest numbers | Days |
| Time to Pay negotiation with HMRC | Buys time on tax arrears — typically up to 12 months | Instalments you can hold to | Days to agree |
| Creditor, supplier and landlord negotiation | Standstills, revised terms and payment plans to keep supply and premises | A credible plan | Days to weeks |
| Balance sheet refinancing | Replaces withdrawn or unsuitable facilities using property, debtors, stock or plant | Assets to borrow against | 1 – 4 weeks |
| Company Voluntary Arrangement | Binding compromise with unsecured creditors, including HMRC — run by a licensed IP | 75% by value of those voting | 3 – 6 weeks |
| Restructuring plan or new investment | Larger rebuilds of the balance sheet, including new equity or structured capital | A viable core business | 4 – 12 weeks |
| Sale of the business or its assets | Going-concern sale, or an orderly sale of assets | Case-specific | Case-specific |
Timescales are indicative and differ case by case. Formal processes such as a CVA are run by licensed insolvency practitioners, and any refinancing is subject to underwriting and approval.
The winding-up clock
The steps are numbered because the sequence carries the whole point: every stage you pass through removes options that were available at the one before.
A creditor demands £750 or more. Failing to pay or secure it within the stated period is common evidence that the company cannot pay its debts.
21 days to respondThe petition is filed at court. From this date, payments and asset transfers can be unwound later unless the court validates them — so treat trading as restricted from here.
Marked from day oneUsually the commercial turning point: banks commonly freeze accounts, suppliers and customers react, and creditor pressure accelerates.
No sooner than 7 clear business days after serviceThe court dismisses, adjourns, or makes a winding-up order. Most cases are resolved before this point — payment, settlement, refinancing or a formal process.
Advert must be 7 clear business days beforeTimeframes reflect the standard position in England and Wales and are indicative only; every case turns on its own facts. If you have been served with a petition, take legal and insolvency advice immediately — we work alongside your advisers, not instead of them.
How it works
Including when the answer is no — which you will hear early, and with a reason.
You send the short summary below. No full pack, no accounts, no fee. You get a same-day view of where you stand and what matters first.
Cash, creditors, deadlines and the core business. We work out what is viable, what is not, and which routes genuinely apply.
A restructuring plan you can explain to HMRC, creditors and your team — with the numbers behind it and the hard choices stated plainly.
We stay with you through the negotiations and the changes — bringing in lawyers or insolvency practitioners only where they are needed.
One way to reach us
Email is the route we monitor for new cases — it keeps the detail in one place and the file intact. Include the points opposite and you will get a substantive answer rather than a request for the same information twice.
hello [at] sensecorporate.comThe email button opens your own mail client with these fields laid out. If a petition has been served, put PETITION in the subject line — those go to the front of the queue.