During the global COVID-19 pandemic, UK Government support has been crucial, even for some of the largest businesses in the UK that had been trading well until the pandemic hit.
The overall quantum of support is unprecedented, with the total cost of COVID-related business, employment and other support measures expected to surpass £300bn.
Of this total, £85.6bn remains outstanding in the form of Government-guaranteed loans and a further £33.5bn of VAT was deferred in Q2 2020. The question remains as to how and to what extent businesses will be able to meet the associated repayment requirements.
To further complicate matters, UK Parliament enacted two pieces of legislation that significantly change the landscape for businesses facing financial difficulties:
There is no doubt that without the scale of the support provided to UK businesses to date, the number of failures would have been catastrophic for the economy. Yet at the same time, the commercial reality of the repayable measures and the new legislation are not fully understood.
This article explores the likely implications and potential uncertainties arising from these events for businesses, with specific focus on audit sign-off, lender and Government behaviour and directors’ duties.
Many of the stressed or distressed situations THM has been involved in over the years have included M&A processes.
Read Story >THM advises SGS, one of the largest property sub-groups of intu, on its £1.3bn long term financial restructuring
Read Story >