Dh's business is insolvent. I'm panicking.

[Malrhia]

I am an employee- a proper one, I do the marketing and most of the design. So I am about to lose my job as well. He employs 15 people so redundancy costs will be high - they've all been there for years. It's not dhs fault, he's lost contract after contract to overseas suppliers despite doing everything he can to keep it going. He said a few weeks ago he was feeling suicidal over it all so of course his mental health is our priority. I'm 58 and jobs are hard to come by where we are (rural northern England). He's owed nearly 200k from suppliers who keep saying they are about to pay but don't. If they did we'd still have to close but at least we could do it properly. He's spoken to his accountants today who agree the only solution is to declare insolvency.

I'm really fucking worried about the financial side of things but more than that dh says he will be traumatised and 'destroyed' with shame when it closes. His dad started the business and it was successful for a time. Don't know why I'm.posting really I can't talk to anyone in rl about it. We don't owe the bank any money I guess that's something.

head tilt did you mean to be so cunty? tinkly laugh

Thank you. You've actually managed to make me laugh (briefly)

This will pass. The redundancy will be sorted. You and Dh will get new jobs. The company I work for is only just insolvent and as accounts I'm dealing with the insolvency practitioner. These things all get resolved.

What an utterly moronic post

I’m so sorry you’re having such an awful time at the moment. This too shall pass. Which doesn’t really HELP, but while it feels like the absolute worst now it won’t be forever.

Very sorry to hear this OP. I remember when I was a teenager and the same thing happened to my dads company. Mum didn't work at the time as she was raising my younger brother. We would walk around Netto with a £10 note and a calculator because we didn't have a penny extra to spend!

However, despite how bloody stressful it was for my parents, we were still a family, we still had each other and we still had happy memories, if anything it made us closer.

Take any and all help you can get and remember it WILL get better. I love the quote from one of the earlier posters "this too shall pass"

@BitOutOfPractice - did you read the bit about the clients who owe them are not UK based? It is very very hard to chase payment overseas if a client decides not to pay, or to pay in their own timescale, which might be 2 weeks, might be next April. depending on where overseas, depends on how long and costly it is to take action.

And that won’t save the business anyway.

I'm so sorry to hear about your bad luck.

My only suggestion would be to watch together some sort of a film where people go through a struggle, lose everything, but somehow win in the end (after re-inventing themselves?). I am sure some posters on here could give some suggestions.

The main thing is that you are together. It could be worse: a health problem or some personal issue between you both. Look after each other!

OP - updating your CV, using any contacts you have to look for other work, possibly step down if need be - is the best thing you could do now.

is there no one in real life you can talk to?

You aren't the first, you won't be the last. I know it's horrible to go through but you will come out the other side.
Just make sure that from here on in you do everything absolutely properly; don't give anyone the chance to claim dodgy goings-on e.g. giving preference to favourite suppliers.
Listen to your advisers. And be grateful that you are a Limited Co.

Commiserations, but chin up and face this head-on, don't stick your head in the sand.

@Malrhia this is just so sad for you both. It really will be ok. I hope the IP is reassuring and helpful tomorrow. Sometimes having no options makes the path easier to follow.

@Malrhia so sorry you are going through this. My parents lost their family business. Financially as an adult at the time it had no impact on me but it was very stressful to watch. I also shared some shame about it at the time which looking back now seems ridiculous. They done thief best and none of us should have been ashamed or embarrassed. They lost everything, but 20 years on they have lovely lives, happy and it all seems like it never happened. My dad went on to get another job and they are enjoying happy retirements. Not what they had planned in their 40’s but just different, not bad. You will be ok

I'm so sorry, this is such a difficult thing you're going through. The shame is the worst, the feelings of failure - even though there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of! I hope you and your husband can support each other and that you have a safe space to vent/cry even if that can't be your husband.

OP no words of advice, just lots of love to you. It's a truly awful situation. It won't always be this way. It's undoubtedly an extremely difficult time, but you WILL come through it. Hang in there, both of you

No @LimeCheesecake i read about suppliers owing them money. 🙄That have been “chased”. I personally would be turning up on their doorsteps now to get the money. I don’t care how hard it is, I would not be giving up because it’s “hard” because o have staff to pay. The op seems a bit clueless. I hope her DP is better. Because nothing will harm his mental health more than just giving up. I speak from experience of many years of getting paid by overseas companies.

Some of the biggest companies in the world go bust - whether or not they were successful at some point - there are so many factors not under your control, that’s just economics and it is such a difficult time out there. The dread is always, always worse than the reality. The reality (with a qualified IP) is that it will be done methodically and carefully and I truly believe in “this too shall pass”. I have uttered it many times during various of life’s shitstorms! And I slightly suspect the family company history has not gone through anything like as difficult and bad a situation as we are currently in.

the overseas suppliers is an issue and it all may depend on where they are. Brexit (thank you gammons) has made it more difficult to enforce an English judgment abroad and who knows whether it would be worth it. But that is what the IP is for.

wine / tea (whatever gives you comfort) and surrendering to the process. Your employees will be okay and you are going through it together.

Ha BitOutofPractice you have no clue. I recently left a large corporate that owed a huge (multi million pound) sum to loads of suppliers, everything from advisors including big four accountancy firms, major IT providers, banks & top tier law firms.

They had cash flow struggles, and simply.... didn't pay bills. If the likes of the Big Four can't successfully get their money for over a year, do you really think OPs 14 employee company can?

Taking legal action is very expensive, can be slow & bureaucratic & can destroy customer relationships and reputation. Selling debt- debt factoring firms know this debt is hard to pursue and will give a fraction of the invoice value to take it on, and again it can harm fragile relationships. These aren't steps taken lightly or easily by a micro business with a handful of staff.

Thank you. You explained it very well.

As directors of the business when the worse has passed please remember you can claim statuary redundancy as well.

Assuming you e been paying yourselves even the minimum £700 ish a month it will make up redundancy money.

He's doing the right thing, it's bloody tough out there, I maybe facing the same in 3 months and a good friend of mine has just folded, totally different industry's but the cost of everything makes our margins unsustainable.

I'm so sorry, OP. And also sorry that a couple of people on this thread are such cnuts. As if you weren't chasing money!!!

All I can add is that I was a board guide on MSE for many years, and have seen lots of people go through this and similar. And survive it. And come out the other side leaving a big pile of stress behind. This too shall pass.

I've also got a friend whose close relative was a Lloyds name until their big crash. The name lost everything (and everything was a LOT!) and is now living a much simpler life and reports that they are MUCH MUCH HAPPIER.

Tell your DH that (all the sensible) people on MN are reassuring, and say it will eventually come out in the wash. Moan to us as much as you like, and give him lots of hugs - real or emotional support ones. It stinks when people work so hard to develop and maintain a business, and are then sabotaged. Hugs to you

just sending my thoughts and wishes <3 running a business is hard. I know it may seem impossible to see right now but businesses failing can be a wonderful blessing in disguise.

I absolutely hate this attitude. “It’s ok, you’re limited so you’re covered”. Hate it.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I went through the same thing a few years ago. It's utterly traumatic. Your husband's identity and pride will take an absolute battering. But hand on heart, I'm now in the best place of my life. You WILL get through it together. It will be shit and scary but will bring you closer together in many ways. And eventually it will start to get easier and you can look to the future. There will be life after the business. Wishing you all the best x

This in spades. I'm a sole trader and for years I had to borrow my own aged debt because the massive companies that owed me money delayed well over a year before paying. I also wrote off money owed to me by clients who by all appearances were good for the money who then didn't pay, went bust themselves, etc. There's a reason why most companies require payment within 1-3 months.

I'm really sorry to hear about this, OP, and I feel very sorry for your husband, but in my line of work I have met people who have gone bust in the past - it's very sad, particularly with a family business you're attached to and staff you care about, but it's 100% possible to come back from it. Look at Alan bloody Sugar.