Christmas might still seem a long way off just because your decorations aren’t up yet but it’s less than 40 days. 

Which means we are already well into the most hectic time of the year for thousands of directors, owners and their businesses. And it’s only going to get busier as we get closer to the end of 2023.

But there will still be time to grab a few minutes to catch up on all the interesting and important business and insolvency news stories from the past seven days. 

So whether you want to know more about how vaping stores operate and how they will react to new laws aimed at them; why October’s corporate insolvency statistics tell a scary tale and the most frequently asked questions and answers about winding up petitions (WUPs) – you can find them all here and more!

Tots Bots

One of Scotland’s best known baby products manufacturers has ceased trading and gone into liquidation. 

Tots Bots was founded over 20 years ago and made and sold reusable nappies, swimwear nappies and related accessories as well as reusable period products under its “Nora” brand. 

47 positions have been made redundant. 

A statement issued on behalf of the business said: “Tots Bots was an award-winning, family-owned business that blazed a trail for producing sustainable and environmentally friendly baby and period products. 

“It’s hugely disappointing that despite the best efforts of the directors, challenging trading conditions have meant that the company is unable to continue to trade. 

Sign Plus

A Scottish industrial, commercial and public sector sign manufacturer with clients including the Ministry of Defence has gone into administration and ceased trading blaming serious cash flow problems.

Sign Plus and Lofthus Signs based in Aberdeen and Peterhead designed, manufactured, installed and maintained a range of products for many clients. 

50 positions have been made redundant. 

A statement from the directors of the business said: “The business has been adversely affected by rising operation costs and unsustainable financial problems with administration being the only option.”

Quantum 4

A retail display business based in Market Harborough has gone into administration and ceased trading with 18 posts being made redundant. 

Quantum 4 was first established in 2002 and was involved in designing, manufacturing and installing retail display equipment. 

The business had growing debts and saw at first hand how the pandemic and cost of living crisis had impacted the retail sector and by extension, themselves. 

In October 2022, their primary customer suspended a store development initiative and withdrew orders. Following this, additional customers also either cancelled or postponed their orders. 

Even after implementing cost-cutting measures and a restructuring initiative, the challenges with cash flow intensified and when attempts to secure a buyer proved unsuccessful, administration was inevitable. 

Wellington Construction

A Lowestoft building company has gone into liquidation after more than 30 years in business. 

Wellington Construction has closed with immediate effect with the loss of 51 positions. 

The company had been involved with several large scale private and public sector housing projects in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Lindstrand Technologies

A hot air balloon company in Wales has gone into liquidation. 

Lindstrand Technologies has gone into voluntary liquidation and closed due to a legal action taken against the company in Australia.  An award of £1.83 million was made against them precipitating the move. 

Per Lindstrand, the owner, said: “We were faced with a demand for the money to be paid within 10 days or the company would have been put into liquidation. Our only option was to go into a voluntary liquidation in order to control things better and that is where we are today.”

Magnus Group

A leading Suffolk freight company has filed a Notice of Intention to appoint administrators this week. 

Magnus Group based near Ipswich have been operating for over 50 years since forming in 1973 and their fleet is a common sight on motorways and on a stand at Portman Road, the home of Ipswich Town FC.

As well as road freight, the company is also involved in air freight, warehousing and marine insurance for transporting cargo.

Kagool

A Coventry based data and analytics firm has gone into administration after experiencing “a significant decline” in IT investments in the UK and EU over the past year. 

Kagool were already reviewing restructuring options and as a result have confirmed that their UK operations were “no longer viable in their current form.” 

Founded in 2004, the company is headquartered in Coventry but with offices in London and abroad including Chicago, Singapore, Mexico, Dubai and Qatar.

A statement from the company said: “As our UK revenues have shrunk, our non-UK revenues have grown considerably. These factors are driving a shift of intellectual capital away from the UK into regions such as the UAE.”

The company added that UK employees were being “remapped and relocated to other Kagool companies” to continue to provide support for international customers and said it expected to retain “most if not all headcount affected by any restructuring.”

Wear Inns

The property company that operated a North East pub business with 25 pubs in its portfolio has gone into administration. 

Wear Inns was acquired by Aprirose in 2018 via Milton Portfolio Op Co 3 which is the company that is affected. 

All 25 pubs located from Gosforth in Newcastle in the north to York being the furthest south, will continue to trade while a buyer for the business and its assets is sought. 264 positions will continue to be employed while this process continues. 

A statement from the business said: “This is an attractive portfolio of profitable, strong-performing and established pubs, comprising 21 freeholds and four long leaseholds, located across the North East of England and Yorkshire. 

With 2024 just around the corner, a lot of business owners and directors will be looking at the year ahead with some trepidation.  Interest rates and energy bills remain high; inflation is slowly reducing but prices and costs are still rising as a result. 

And every company will be worrying about business rates rises due to come in Q1 of the new year. 

But there is still time – right now – to get some professional advice on what you can do to help protect your business and career starting today. 

Get in touch with us to arrange a free initial consultation with one of our team of advisors. 

They’ll explain what is and isn’t feasible and possible and what you can do to make the necessary changes you need so you can start a new year in the best shape possible – and the sooner you take action, the sooner you can begin to put your plans into action.