What can remaining directors do at this point?
Martin Skinner was Chief Executive of the Inspired Group which comprised other companies under the umbrella including Inspired Asset Management and Inspired Developments London.
A respected brand with a track record of success, Inspired were one of the largest firms undertaking office-to-residential conversions in the greater London area.
It’s a practice that has seen expanding growth and potential as more business premises on high streets and commercial areas are being redesignated for residential purposes.
Inspire recently converted five Croydon office buildings into micro-flats including the 123,265 sq foot, 16-storey office Impact House building in Croydon, South East London.
Now several jobs and the whole group is on the brink of destruction as Martin Skinner was jailed last week – for nothing to do with his running of the business.
He was sent to prison for 22 months for careless driving after a high speed crash left his passenger with serious head injuries. He was also banned from driving until May 2022 and ordered to pay fines and court costs amounting to £1,815.
It probably didn’t help that he showed up two hours late for his own trial claiming that his alarm didn’t go off to wake him up.
Following a deluge of negative publicity as a result, the remaining management at Inspired have appointed administrators to help the group try to find a way out of their situation.
The companies have total potential assets worth £100m so there is a basis for restructuring and recovery, a spokesperson told Property Week.
“The company’s investors are convinced that this could allow the company to move forward rather than try to shut it down and add to the chaos”.
Organise, but not a jailbreak
Chris Horner, Insolvency Director with BusinessRescueExpert said: “Incredible events might be improbable but they aren’t impossible – they sometimes happen and any business needs to plan for them.
“A company should have a variety of contingency plans in reserve so it can survive any sudden change to the senior team. If you realise that if a key member of staff goes, then so does the company then you urgently need a Plan B.
“Just because you really don’t want something to happen doesn’t mean that it won’t.”
Contact one of our expert team to arrange your free initial consultation. We can talk through what’s happened, what the current business situation looks like and what the next steps should be to save the business if you can.