Service area · Guildford & Surrey
Insolvency & Director Advicein Guildford and Surrey: Advice From Your Side
Guildford sits a short drive from our main Hampshire office, so Surrey directors get independent, director-side advice quickly, before an insolvency practitioner is anywhere near the picture.
Free initial advice · Confidential · No obligation · Lines open 8am to 6pm · We act for directors, not creditors
Speaking to directors in Guildford, Surrey
- 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 Guildford and across Surrey
Surrey has a high concentration of small professional, technology and service companies with high fixed costs, an expensive place to run a business that is losing money quietly.
Where in Surrey we work
Guildford is close to our main office near Alton in Hampshire, and we advise directors across the county, Woking, Godalming, Farnham, Camberley, Cranleigh, Dorking, Leatherhead, Epsom, Redhill and Reigate.
For most Surrey directors an in-person meeting is a short journey for either party, which matters when the situation is complicated enough that a phone call is not enough.
How quickly we respond in Guildford
Lines are open 8am to 6pm, seven days a week and the first conversation is normally the same day you ring. Because Guildford is close to the Hampshire office, meetings can usually be arranged at short notice.
If a winding-up petition, statutory demand or landlord forfeiture threat has arrived, treat that as the moment to call rather than the week after.
The kinds of business we see in Surrey
Technology and software companies, consultancies and professional services, recruitment firms, marketing and creative agencies, construction and specialist trades serving the county's housing stock, hospitality and independent retail, private education and healthcare providers.
Many are small teams carrying a disproportionately expensive office lease, and a large number took a Bounce Back Loan alongside investor or director funding.
What Surrey directors call about
HMRC arrears, particularly PAYE and VAT in service businesses where payroll is the largest cost. Then unpaid Bounce Back Loans, overdrawn director's loan accounts in owner-managed consultancies, and personal guarantees on office leases.
We also see investor-backed companies where funding has stopped and directors need to understand their duties as the position deteriorates.
What we advise on in Guildford, Surrey
Every service below is available to directors in Guildford, Surrey and the surrounding area, starting with the same free and confidential first conversation.
HMRC Debt & Pressure
Understand exactly what HMRC can do next about PAYE, VAT or corporation tax arrears, and what a credible proposal looks like.
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Bounce Back Loan Problems
Straight answers on unpaid Bounce Back Loans, director liability and treatment on closure.
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Business Restructuring
Where the client base is sound but the cost base is not, we test whether restructuring can protect the trade.
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Closing a Limited Company (CVL)
Understand the CVL process, its cost and your duties before appointing anyone to it.
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Overdrawn Director's Loan Account
Very common in Surrey consultancies drawing dividends against uncertain profits. Know the exposure early.
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Personal Guarantees
Office leases in Guildford and Woking almost always carry one. Establish what you signed and what it exposes.
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General Director Advice
Confidential guidance on duties and exposure, including where investors and directors want different things.
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Company Insolvency Advisory
A clear read on whether the company is insolvent and what each process would mean for you personally.
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Advice Before You Engage an IP
What will be investigated and what to prepare, before you meet a licensed insolvency practitioner.
Read moreWhy Guildford directors speak to us
We are a director advisory firm, not an insolvency practice, and we hold no insolvency licences. Our only client in the process is you.
Close to our main office
Guildford is a short distance from our main office near Alton in Hampshire, so meetings are practical rather than a project.
Never the office-holder
We never take an appointment, so we are never the party required to report on your conduct.
Same-day first conversation
Lines open 8am to 6pm, seven days a week, weekends included.
Licensed practitioners when needed
Introductions to practitioners holding 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.
Independent valuation panel
Auctioneers and valuers, some RICS-associated depending on the case, so asset values are properly established.
Free, confidential start
The first conversation costs nothing, carries no obligation and goes no further than us.
Pressures specific to Surrey businesses
High-cost, service-led local economies fail differently from industrial ones, later, faster and with less warning on the balance sheet.
Expensive office commitments
Guildford and Woking office rents are high relative to headcount, and leases signed for a larger team still run after the team shrank.
Payroll-heavy cost bases
In consultancies and agencies, PAYE and VAT are the largest short-term liabilities and the first to slip when a client leaves.
Client concentration
Losing one significant client can remove a third of revenue in a month while notice periods and rent continue unchanged.
Dividend-based remuneration
Owner-managers paid largely in dividends can find those dividends were not covered by reserves once the year is properly closed.
Investor funding stopping
Where growth funding halts, directors must recognise quickly that continuing to trade may no longer be in the creditors' interest.
Older commercial and converted stock
Period and converted premises in the county's towns carry repairing obligations and dilapidations claims that surprise tenants at lease end.
How we work with you
The same defined sequence for every director we advise in Guildford, Surrey, 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 Guildford before you commit
In service businesses the window between 'tight' and 'insolvent' is short. What you do in that window is what gets examined later.
Why order of advice matters
Once appointed, an insolvency practitioner acts for the general body of creditors and must report on the conduct of the directors. That includes when you knew there was no reasonable prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation, and what you did afterwards.
We hold no insolvency licences and never take an appointment, which is precisely why we can prepare you for that examination rather than conduct it.
What we review in a Surrey company
The company position and your personal exposure are assessed together.
- HMRC arrears by tax type and any broken Time to Pay arrangement
- Bounce Back Loan balance and how the funds were applied
- Personal guarantees on office leases, equipment and trade accounts
- Director's loan account balance and how it arose
- Dividends declared against distributable reserves at the time
- Client contracts, notice periods and forward commitments
When the trade can be protected
Where a viable trade sits inside a company that cannot service its liabilities, restructuring or an orderly route can preserve it. A Northampton fencing and groundwork contractor was liquidated with assets independently valued and bought at a fair price, and the continuing business grows and thrives.
Where the threat is an allegation, evidence is the answer, as with the Oxford transport company accused of fraud and theft over stolen, already-financed plant machinery, whose reputation and contracts were recovered.
Coverage across Surrey and the borders
We advise across Surrey from our main Hampshire office, and regularly work with directors in Farnham, Aldershot and Farnborough where the two counties meet.
Our other offices are in Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and Birmingham, with a registered office in Northampton, and we advise nationwide.
Guildford, Surrey: questions directors ask
Do you serve Guildford and Surrey?
Yes. Guildford is close to our main office near Alton in Hampshire, and we advise directors across Surrey including Woking, Godalming, Farnham, Camberley, Dorking, Epsom, Redhill and Reigate.
How fast can you reach a director in Guildford?
Lines are open 8am to 6pm, seven days a week and the first conversation is usually the same day. Meetings in Guildford can normally be arranged at short notice given the distance from our main office.
What does advice cost in Surrey?
The initial advice is free, confidential and carries no obligation. Where a licensed practitioner is later required, their costs are set out clearly before anything is agreed.
Is there emergency availability in Surrey?
Yes, 8am to 6pm, seven days a week. If a statutory demand or petition has arrived, call at the weekend rather than waiting for the working week.
Are you insolvency practitioners?
No. We are a director advisory firm acting for directors and investors, and we hold no insolvency licences.
Our investors have stopped funding. What are my duties?
That is exactly the point at which director duties shift towards the interests of creditors. The first call sets out what that means in practice and what you should and should not do next.
I took dividends that may not have been covered. Is that a problem?
It can be, and it is one of the first things an office-holder examines. It is far more manageable before an appointment than after one.
Will my clients or landlord find out I contacted you?
No. The conversation is confidential and nobody is contacted on your behalf without your instruction.
Do you advise on personal debt?
No. We deal with company insolvency and director advisory only.
I have already met an insolvency practitioner. Is it too late?
Not if nothing has been signed. There is still real value in an independent review first.
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 Surrey company
Free, confidential and no obligation. Understand the company's real position, your personal exposure and the options that 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.