Birmingham office
Insolvency & Director Advicein Birmingham: For Directors, Not Creditors
Our Birmingham office advises directors across the city and the West Midlands on HMRC arrears, unpaid Bounce Back Loans, guarantees and closure options, independently of any insolvency practice.
Free initial advice · Confidential · No obligation · Lines open 8am to 6pm · We act for directors, not creditors
Speaking to directors in Birmingham
- A straight read of where the company actually stands
- The options open to you, explained without jargon
- Where you are personally exposed, and where you are not
- What to do this week, not in three months
Lines open 8am to 6pm, 7 days a week · Nothing you tell us goes any further.
Advising directors in Birmingham and the West Midlands
Birmingham carries an unusually broad mix of trades, manufacturing, distribution, construction, professional services and hospitality, and each one reaches insolvency by a different route.
We serve Birmingham and the surrounding boroughs
From the Birmingham office we advise directors in the city centre and across the conurbation, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall and Coventry, as well as the Black Country industrial belt.
Directors here usually want the first conversation immediately and the meeting later. That is how we work: phone or video first, in person when it is worth the time.
How quickly we respond in Birmingham
Lines are open 8am to 6pm, seven days a week and the first conversation is normally the same day. In-person meetings in Birmingham are arranged from the office here and brought forward where enforcement is imminent.
If a statutory demand has landed, a petition has been advertised or a funder has given notice, call at that moment. The available options narrow week by week from there.
The kinds of business we see in Birmingham
Precision engineering and metalworking, automotive supply chain firms, plastics and packaging, construction and M&E contractors, logistics and distribution, wholesale, city-centre hospitality and retail, care providers and professional services.
A large proportion are leasehold occupiers of industrial units with personal guarantees attached, and most carry asset finance across plant, machinery and vehicles.
What Birmingham directors usually call about
HMRC pressure is the most common trigger, particularly PAYE and VAT arrears in businesses with substantial payrolls. Automotive and engineering suppliers also call when a large customer changes terms or volumes overnight.
Beyond that: unpaid Bounce Back Loans, overdrawn director's loan accounts, personal guarantees on unit leases and asset finance, and directors who have been told liquidation is the only answer and want that tested.
What we advise on in Birmingham
Every service below is available to directors in Birmingham and the surrounding area, starting with the same free and confidential first conversation.
HMRC Debt & Pressure
Know what HMRC can realistically do next on PAYE, VAT or corporation tax arrears, and what a credible proposal looks like.
Read more
Bounce Back Loan Problems
Clear answers on unpaid Bounce Back Loans, director liability and treatment on closure.
Read more
Business Restructuring
Where an order book or a skilled workforce is worth protecting, we test whether restructuring can genuinely do it.
Read more
Closing a Limited Company (CVL)
The CVL process, its cost and your duties as a director, understood before you appoint anyone.
Read more
Overdrawn Director's Loan Account
An overdrawn loan account is an asset a liquidator will pursue. Know the number while there is time to plan.
Read more
Personal Guarantees
Standard on Midlands industrial leases and plant finance. Establish exactly what you signed and what it exposes.
Read more
General Director Advice
Confidential guidance on your duties, exposure and next move from people acting for you.
Read more
Company Insolvency Advisory
A plain read of the company's position, the processes available and the personal consequences of each.
Read more
Advice Before You Engage an IP
What will be investigated and what to prepare, before you sit down with a licensed practitioner.
Read moreWhy directors in Birmingham choose us
We are a director advisory firm, not an insolvency practice, and we hold no insolvency licences. That is the whole basis of the relationship.
A Birmingham office
Birmingham is one of our five offices, alongside Alton in Hampshire, Manchester, Leeds and Bradford.
Aligned with the director
Once appointed, an insolvency practitioner acts for creditors and must report on your conduct. Our duty is to you throughout.
Same-day first conversation
Lines are open 8am to 6pm, seven days a week, weekends included.
Licensed practitioners when needed
We introduce directors to practitioners with credentials including Fellow of the Insolvency Practitioners Association, membership of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals, the International Association of Insolvency, Restructuring and Bankruptcy Professionals and the Turnaround Management Association.
Plant and machinery valued properly
Our panel of auctioneers and valuers, some RICS-associated depending on the case, matters in a region where the value sits in the machinery.
Specialist HMRC input
We work with a retired former HMRC inspector on specialist tax matters where the position is contested or complicated.
Pressures specific to Birmingham and the Black Country
This is a manufacturing region with a manufacturing failure pattern: asset heavy, customer concentrated and slow to show distress in turnover.
Automotive supply chain volatility
Tier two and tier three suppliers hold tooling, stock and headcount against forecasts that can be cut at short notice, leaving fixed cost with no volume.
Energy-intensive processes
Foundry, forging, plastics and finishing operations carry energy costs that cannot be passed through quickly on fixed-price contracts.
Ageing industrial estates
Much of the Black Country trades from older units with substantial repairing obligations, and dilapidations claims at lease end can exceed a year's profit.
Plant and machinery finance
Where the balance sheet is dominated by financed machinery, the equity position is often far weaker than directors believe until an independent valuation is done.
Payroll-heavy PAYE arrears
Manufacturers and care providers with large payrolls accumulate PAYE arrears quickly, and HMRC treats employee taxes with less patience than other debts.
Long payment terms from large customers
Being a small supplier to a very large buyer means accepting their terms. That gap is funded by the supplier, usually through VAT.
How we work with you
The same defined sequence for every director we advise in Birmingham, so you always know what happens next and what is expected of you.
- 01
First call
You tell us what has happened and what you are worried about. Free, confidential and usually same day.
- 02
Position review
We look at the company's finances and your personal exposure, guarantees, loan account, dividends and timeline.
- 03
Options set out
Restructuring, negotiation or closure, compared in plain English with what each would mean for you.
- 04
The right specialists
Where a formal process is needed we introduce you to a licensed insolvency practitioner suited to the case.
- 05
Alongside you throughout
We stay involved while the process runs, so somebody in the room is always acting for you.
Independent advice in Birmingham before anything is signed
In an asset-heavy business the decisions taken before an appointment determine what survives afterwards. Here is what we look at and why.
Why the first call should not be to an insolvency practitioner
An appointed practitioner realises assets, distributes them in the statutory order and reports on directors' conduct. Their duties are owed to the general body of creditors, properly so, but not helpfully to you.
Phoenix Company Consultants Ltd never takes an appointment. We advise the director, prepare them for what will be examined, and introduce a licensed practitioner when one is genuinely needed.
What we examine in a Midlands manufacturer
The company's position and your personal exposure are reviewed together, along with the assets that will determine the outcome.
- Plant, machinery and vehicles: ownership, finance and realistic independent value
- HMRC arrears by tax type and any Time to Pay history
- Personal guarantees on unit leases, asset finance and trade accounts
- Bounce Back Loan balance and how funds were applied
- Director's loan account balance and how it arose
- Customer concentration, order book quality and forward commitments
When the trade can continue
Where a viable trade is trapped inside a company that cannot service its liabilities, an orderly route can preserve it. A Northampton fencing and groundwork contractor unable to meet its tax liabilities was liquidated with assets independently valued and bought at a fair price, and the continuing business now grows and thrives.
Where an allegation rather than a debt is the threat, the answer is evidence. An Oxford transport company accused of fraud and theft after buying stolen, already-financed plant machinery was shown to be the victim; its business was restored and lost contracts retrieved.
Coverage across the West Midlands
The Birmingham office covers the city, Solihull, the Black Country, Coventry and the wider West Midlands. Our main office is near Alton in Hampshire, with further offices in Manchester, Leeds and Bradford, and a registered office in Northampton.
We advise directors nationwide; the first conversation costs nothing wherever the company is based.
Birmingham: questions directors ask
Do you serve Birmingham?
Yes. Birmingham is one of our offices and we advise directors across the city, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall and Coventry.
How fast can you reach a director in Birmingham?
Lines are open 8am to 6pm, seven days a week and the first conversation is usually the same day. In-person meetings are arranged from the Birmingham office and brought forward when enforcement is imminent.
What does advice cost in Birmingham?
The initial advice is free, confidential and carries no obligation. Where a formal process follows, the licensed practitioner introduced sets out their costs before anything is agreed.
Is there emergency availability in the West Midlands?
Yes, our lines are open 8am to 6pm, seven days a week, and urgent situations such as petitions or enforcement action should be raised immediately.
Are you insolvency practitioners?
No. We are a director advisory firm acting for directors and investors and hold no insolvency licences. We introduce licensed practitioners where a formal process is needed.
Our machinery is on finance. What happens to it?
It depends on the agreements and on the genuine value of the equipment, which is why we use an independent panel of auctioneers and valuers rather than relying on book figures.
We have lost a major automotive contract. Is it too late to act?
Not necessarily. The sooner the position is assessed, the more likely it is that some form of restructuring or orderly route can protect the viable part of the business.
Will my customers or bank be told I contacted you?
No. The conversation is confidential and nobody is contacted on your behalf without your instruction.
Do you advise on personal debt or bankruptcy?
No. We deal with company insolvency and director advisory only.
I have already met a practitioner in Birmingham. Should I still speak to you?
Yes, provided nothing has been signed. Independent review before an appointment is still valuable.
Not sure where to start?
Describe the situation in one call. If a different service fits better, we will say so and point you to it.
0330 223 5754Free · Confidential · No obligation · Lines open 8am to 6pm, 7 days a week
Speak to us about your Birmingham company
Free, confidential and no obligation. Find out what the company is actually worth, where you are exposed personally, and which routes remain open.
0330 223 575407770 666896- The initial conversation is genuinely free and carries no obligation
- Everything you tell us stays between us
- We are independent: we act for you, not for your creditors
Free, confidential and no obligation. Company insolvency and director advisory only; we do not advise on personal debt.