Stage 1 Additional Information

Charge-out Rates for Office Holders and Their Staff and Bases of Calculation of Associated Expenses.

Time costs of office holders and their staff are recorded in 6-minute units at the charge-out rates shown. Office holders may be assisted by self-employed individuals engaged to fill temporary or infrequent gaps in the firm’s permanent staff resources. Such individuals operate in a manner similar to other membersof staff and their time spent on case administration is recorded at whichever rate shown here is appropriate to the role they perform.

These rates are reviewed periodically and are subject to inflationary or other adjustments. Up-to-date schedules of charge-out rates will be provided in all future reports.

For further information regarding fees, please download the relevant Guide at panel.sfpgroup.com or a hard copy will be provided on request.

Further information regarding insolvency processes in general is available at www.creditorinsolvencyguide.co.uk

SIP9 provides definitions of Category 1 and 2 expenses. They are always directly attributable to the estate to which they are charged. In general terms, office holders may discharge Category 1 expenses from the funds held in the insolvent estate, whereas the relevant authorising body must approve the basis of any Category 2 expenses before they may be charged to the estate. The relevant authorising body is whoever has the statutory right to approve the basis of the office holders’ fees. This is usually the general body of creditors or a class of them. Please note that reports or fee-related documents issued by the office holder before 1 April 2021 may have described the office holders’ expenses in a different manner to reflect the version of SIP9 that was effective at the time. If you require information on the policies applicable to earlier periods, please contact this office.

Grade	Rate £/hr
Director 2	625
Director 1	575
Associate Director	500
Senior Manager 2	475
Senior Manager 1	450
Manager 2	400
Manager 1	375
Assistant Manager	350
Senior Administrator 2	325
Senior Administrator 1	300
Administrator 2	250
Administrator 1	200
Assistant	150
Data Administrator	20

Category 1 Expenses

Category 1 expenses are payments to persons providing the service to which the expense relates who are not an associate of the office holder.

Category 2 Expenses

Category 2 expenses are payments to associates or which have an element of shared costs. Set out below are the bases of the office holders’ expenses in this category. The report accompanying this appendix may detail other Category 2 expenses specific to the appointment in question.

SFP Property Limited

SFP Property is a surveying practice, which provides property valuation and sales services. SFP Property has shareholders in common with SFP. Although the office holders and their staff could undertake some of the work carried out by SFP Property, e.g. liaising with landlords, tenants and interested parties, it is considered more effective and efficient to arrange for SFP Property to deal with all matters relating to properties. In addition, in view of SFP Property’s proximity to SFP, including the sharing of resources such as office space and finance staff, it is considered that SFP Property provides better value than any outside agencies. Although, of course, this arrangement benefits the common shareholders, it should be remembered that in the event that realisations are limited, SFP Property will not receive full payment for its time costs incurred.
SFP Property’s fees are charged on the basis of the time costs incurred at the following rates:

Grade	Rate £/hr	Grade	Rate £/hr
Director	350	Senior Administrator 2	175
Senior Manager 1	275	Senior Administrator 1	155
Senior Manager 2	250	Administrator 2	135
Manager 2	225	Administrator 1	115
Manager 1	200	Assistant	100

SFP Property may also incur direct expenses, such as Land Registry fees, which will be charged to the insolvent estate at cost.

Travel, Subsistence and Accommodation

It may be necessary for SFP employees/directors to incur travel, subsistence or accommodation costs payable to third parties in order to attend at locations other than SFP’s offices for the direct purposes of the appointment or engagement in question. These will only be charged to the estate at cost and will not be approved for payment by the estate unless they are considered fair, reasonable and proportionate to the appointment or engagement.

SFP pays its employees (including directors) for using their own vehicles in travelling to/from locations (other than SFP’s offices) as required for the administration of cases. At present, employees are paid at the following rates and consequently the charge made to the estate will be at these rates, although these may change in future especially to reflect any changes to HMRC’s approved mileage rates.

Sub-contractors

Office holders may sub-contract other work that could otherwise be carried out by them or their staff. The following explains what typically is sub-contracted out and why. Please refer to the accompanying documents for information on the specific circumstances of the case and on how much this work will, or has, cost.

Pension Specialists
Where a pension scheme exists, pension specialists are instructed to conclude all pension scheme matters, which can involve winding up schemes and applying to the Redundancy Payment Service for payment of pension contribution arrears. Although these matters could be carried out by the office holders or their staff, it is appropriate to draw on the substantial knowledge and expertise of the pension specialists, who are also able to operate in a cost-effective manner.

Employment Specialists
SFP has staff with the knowledge and experience to deal with most matters relating to employees and former employees of insolvent businesses. However, particularly in cases with a large number of employees, external employment specialists may be instructed as they have cost-effective systems in place to process employees’ claims in bulk. Employment specialists may also be engaged to assist in high profile or complex cases, as they have greater expertise to deal with such matters.

Debt Collection Agents
In some cases, office holders will engage other parties to pursue payment of outstanding sales invoices. Sometimes specialist debt collection agents, who have knowledge and experience in collecting the debts of a particular industry will be instructed. In other cases, the office holders may engage individuals (whether in their personal capacity or by engaging with the individuals’ new employer or company) who were previously employed by the insolvent entity to do this work. In both these circumstances, because of the debt collectors’ specialist knowledge and often their relationships with the debtors, they are likely to be achieve better results than the office holders or their staff. In some cases, office holders may decide to instruct a debt collection agent on the basis that it will be cheaper than the staff to carry out the work at their standard charge-out rates.

Insolvency Claims Specialists
An office holder’s investigations sometimes identify claims that may be pursued for the benefit of an insolvent estate. Due to their specialism, it is often the case that recoveries can be made quicker and more effectively if insolvency claims specialists are instructed to assist in pursuing such claims. Thus, while office holders and their staff have the knowledge and skills to pursue such recoveries in the first instance, they may decide to engage an insolvency claims specialist at an early stage in the interests of the insolvent estate.

Storage Agents
On older appointments (i.e. before c.May 2021), the office holders usually instructed independent agents to box up the insolvent entity’s relevant books and records, create an inventory of those records, transport them to their storage facilities and store the records until such time as they can be destroyed. In most new appointments, the office holders now instruct independent storage agents to transport the insolvent entity’s relevant books and records to the office holders’ offices so that they can be scanned for electronic filing purposes and then the storage agents destroy the hard copy records. Holding the records in electronic form is far more useful to the office holders for their investigation purposes and it saves on the ongoing expense of storing the hard copy records with independent agents often for several years.

Advertising Agents
In all cases, legislation requires office holders to have statutory notices published in the London or Edinburgh Gazette. Although it is possible for the office holder to submit such requests directly to the Gazette, they use specialist advertising agents. For a small additional fee, the advertising agents check the submissions for obvious errors and omissions and can ensure that notices requiring urgent attention are dealt with swiftly.

Press Agents
In a few cases, it is valuable to the administration of the case for press agents to be engaged to assist in publicising the insolvency. For example, publicising may assist in bringing the insolvency event to the attention of unknown creditors or parties who may be interested in purchasing the business or assets. Press agents have the knowledge and expertise to determine how best to publicise matters and are more effective than the office holders or their staff would be.

Casework Assistance
SFP has staff with the knowledge and experience to deal with all tasks which are required to be undertaken on insolvency cases. That said, there are certain tasks which do not require the level of knowledge and experience which the majority of SFP’s staff hold, yet these tasks take a material amount of time to complete. These matters include, but are not limited to, preparatory work to assist with an office holder’s investigations as well as tasks associated with the closure of a case. External parties have cost-effective systems in place to deal with tasks of this nature in bulk and may be engaged to assist in certain matters.

The Board’s Duties and Obligations.

We should like to draw the following points to your attention:

The Board remains responsible for the conduct of the affairs of the Company until such time as it is placed into liquidation and it is under a duty to act so as to preserve the Company’s assets and minimise its liabilities for the benefit of creditors and members generally.
The Board must ensure that any action that it takes will not result in any creditor or member, or group of creditors or members, being preferred or given an advantage over the remainder. In particular, the Board should ensure that any secured creditor having either a legal mortgage or debenture over the Company’s assets is not put in a better position as a result of any action it may take with regard to disposing of the Company’s assets.
No payments should be made to existing creditors of the Company, nor should the Company obtain any further goods or services on credit.
Credit and charge cards issued to Directors and staff should no longer be used.
No deliveries of goods or services already ordered should be accepted without our written consent.
No assets should be disposed of, except to the extent necessary to meet essential costs and expenses of the Company. In the event that material assets are to be sold, these should first be valued by appropriate independent agents with adequate professional indemnity insurance. In addition, if any of the directors or any other party connected with the Company is interested in purchasing the business or any of the Company’s assets, they should seek independent advice.
The Board should take care not to allow any of the Company’s creditors to obtain possession of any assets pending investigation of their entitlement to such possession by a subsequently appointed liquidator. Creditors seeking to recover goods supplied, including those supplied pursuant to retention of title clauses embodied in their conditions of sale, should similarly not be allowed to remove any items from the Company’s or other premises.
The Company should not supply any goods to existing creditors except on a pro forma payment basis.
No goods should be despatched with carriers or hauliers who are owed money by the Company.
Cash or cheques received by the Company should be handed over to us for payment into a Clients’ Account. Depending on the source of such funds and any relevant security over them, these funds may be utilised, inter alia, in discharging the costs and expenses of seeking members’ and creditors’ decisions on the proposed liquidation and any ongoing operational expenses necessary for the beneficial realisation of the Company’s assets. Further we shall utilise these funds to discharge our fees for the assistance in the preparation of the estimated Statement of Affairs and ancillary documentation, together with the costs of any instructed agents and solicitors. Any remaining balance will be held pending confirmation of the liquidator’s appointment by the creditors. In the event that the appointment of an Insolvency Practitioner employed by us is not ratified by the creditors, any surplus funds held will be handed over to the duly elected Liquidator, after the deduction of our fees and costs.
The Board authorises us to instruct agents of our choosing to value the assets of the Company and to pay their reasonable expenses incurred in undertaking the valuation out of any Company funds received by us prior to liquidation, or as an expense of preparing the statement of Company’s affairs.
The Board must ensure that all assets of the Company should be properly insured and all liability insurances, such as for employees, products, professional indemnity, property owners and public, should be maintained. The appropriate premiums should be paid such that adequate insurance cover remains in force until such time as the liquidator confirms that alternative arrangements are in place.
The Board must deliver up to us all the books and records of the Company. These are required by us to enable sufficient information to be provided to creditors regarding the financial affairs of the Company. In the meantime, it is your responsibility to ensure that the Company continues to comply with all data protection legislation. This includes ensuring that access to and copies of digital data are restricted so that the risk of any data breach is mitigated.
The Board should prepare, with our assistance where necessary, a statement of the Company’s affairs in the prescribed form, together with a report, which will need to be provided to creditors prior to their decision.
Please ensure that neither members of the Board of Directors nor any member of staff speaks to the press or media. If appropriate, a formal press release will be prepared and this will be made available for distribution by the Board.
Where dismissals are proposed, the Board has various obligations under the employment legislation that will need to be met and we suggest that you obtain legal advice on your responsibilities as a Board to the employees and government agencies.
The Board should provide us with details of any known health and safety breaches in the last 3 years and deliver up to us the Company’s accident book and any inspection or safety certificates held in respect of the Company’s plant and machinery.

It is important that the above procedures are followed, as failure to do so could result in penalties or personal liability being incurred by members of the Board under the provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986.

Please note that nothing contained within this engagement instruction should be taken as directing the Board to do anything which would compromise the safety of the Board, the Company’s employees, agents or any third party.

The current government guidelines and requirements in light of the COVID-19 pandemic must be followed first and foremost and public safety is paramount.

Guide to CVLs & Directors Responsibilities.

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Duties and Responsibilities of the Director Nominated by the Board of Directors to Act as Convener/Chair.

Provision of Information

In order to initiate the processes to place the Company into liquidation, you will be required to provide the information on the Company’s history and its current assets and liabilities. You will be provided with a detailed list of information required.

Members’ Meeting

A members’ meeting must be convened to place the Company into liquidation.
The director nominated by the Board will be responsible for signing the relevant notices and the Practice will act on the Board’s instructions to issue the notices to members.
You will be required to act as Chair of the meeting, however a senior staff member of the Practice will attend the meeting and assist you.
Usually, the members’ meeting is a mere formality at which standard resolutions are passed. The Practice will assist you in assessing whether the requisite majorities for the resolutions have been reached, in completing the necessary documentation and in filing and advertising the statutory notices.

Deemed Consent Procedure

You will be required to sign the relevant notices for the deemed consent procedure and the Practice will act on the Board’s instructions to issue the notices to all creditors.
Although it is rare, it may be considered necessary to advertise the notice, in which case you will be responsible for signing the notice to be advertised.
You will also be responsible for reviewing any objections to the deemed consent procedure received from creditors or requests for a physical meeting.
When considering objections or requests for a meeting, an assessment will need to be made about the amount of the claim of the creditor(s) objecting to the process or requesting a meeting and about the total claims of all relevant creditors in order to calculate whether the threshold for objections or requests has been reached.
It may be appropriate for you to obtain independent assistance in determining the authenticity of a prospective participant’s authority or entitlement to participate and the amount for which they are permitted to do so, in the event these are called into question.
The Practice will provide guidance with the process.
A record of the decision and certificate of the Liquidator’s appointment will be drafted by the Practice and will need to be signed by you.

Statement of Affairs and Report to Creditors

You will be responsible for providing accurate and complete information about the Company’s assets and liabilities and for signing the Statement of Affairs, which will be drafted by the Practice based upon information provided by you.
You will also be responsible for agreeing the contents of the Report to Creditors, which will be drafted by the Practice based upon information provided by you and from other sources such as Companies House.
These documents must be received by creditors at least one business day prior to the end of the deemed consent procedure. As this deadline does not include delivery time, it will be necessary for you to have signed the Statement and agreed the Report at least 3 business days before the date set for the end of the deemed consent procedure.

Material Transaction

If the Statement of Affairs does not, or will not, state the Company’s affairs as at the end of the deemed consent procedure (or at the physical meeting of creditors, if one is required – see below), the Board is responsible for reporting to creditors on any material transactions that occur between the date of the making of the Statement and the end of the deemed consent procedure or meeting of creditors.
Such material transactions may require the deemed consent procedure to be extended by several days. It is therefore essential that you notify the Practice immediately that any such material transactions are envisaged or occur.
If a physical meeting has been convened, the report on material transactions will be presented to the meeting. Otherwise, it will need to be delivered to creditors.

Objections and Requests for Meeting

As detailed above, it will be your responsibility to review claims to assess whether the threshold for convening a physical meeting has been reached.
It may be appropriate for you to obtain independent assistance in determining the authenticity of a prospective participant’s authority or entitlement to participate and the amount for which they are permitted to do so in the event that these are called into question.
Where the threshold has been reached by creditors either objecting to the deemed consent procedure or requesting a meeting, it will be necessary to convene a physical meeting of creditors and the deemed consent procedure will be superseded by the physical meeting.

Meeting of Creditors

If a physical meeting of creditors becomes necessary, you will be required to sign the relevant notices for the process and the Practice will act on the Board’s instructions to circulate the notices to all creditors.
It will be necessary to advertise the meeting and you will be responsible for signing the notice to be advertised.
It may be appropriate for you to obtain independent assistance in determining the authenticity of a prospective participant’s authority or entitlement to participate and the amount for which they are permitted to do so in the event that these are called into question.
The Practice will provide guidance with the process.
You will be the Chair of the meeting of creditors, however the proposed Liquidator will conduct the meeting on your behalf.
A record of the decision (in the form of minutes of the meeting) and certificate of the Liquidator’s appointment will be drafted by the Practice and will need to be signed by you.

SFP’s Changing Role in this Assignment.

Liquidating a company is a complex legal process subject to regulatory requirements in the insolvency legislation, Statements of Insolvency Practice (“SIPs”) and those of our regulatory bodies. As the assignment develops, our role changes and it is important that we make you aware of how this may affect you.

To date, as the Company’s advisor, we owed our prime duty to the Company acting through its Board and took appropriate steps to ensure that the Board received appropriate advice on its options.

From now on, as our Insolvency Practitioner becomes a potential Liquidator, he will have to take a more independent and balanced approach, arranging for independent valuations of assets and recording information about the Company’s affairs and dealings without compromising his future duty as Liquidator. Any advice that he gives from this point will have to remain independent to avoid compromising the potential appointment as Liquidator and may have to be disclosed to creditors.

Once appointed Liquidator, our Insolvency Practitioner will owe his prime duty to the creditors as a whole and must act as an officer of the Court. He will have to realise and distribute assets, maximising realisations for creditors. He will have to investigate the Company’s affairs, which may lead to action being taken against individual Directors in respect of transactions and the disposal of assets entered into by the Company, and/or adverse reports submitted to the Secretary of State under the Company Directors Disqualification Act (“CDDA”). This may, from the Board’s perspective, appear hostile, although the Liquidator will merely be fulfilling his statutory duty as required.

Restrictions on the Re-use of the Company Name.

We would also like to take this opportunity to draw the Board’s attention to the provisions of Section 216 and 217 of the Insolvency Act 1986 which are briefly explained below.

As you are a Director of the Company, once the Company is placed into liquidation you will be prohibited from using any name by which the Company was known, including any trading names, or a name which is so similar as to suggest an association with that Company.

The restriction from using a prohibited name applies for the period of 5 years beginning with the day on which the Company is placed into liquidation and except with the permission of the court you cannot:

be a Director of any other Company that is known by a prohibited name, or,
in any way, whether directly or indirectly, be concerned or take part in the promotion, formation or management of any such Company, or,
in any way, whether directly or indirectly, be concerned or take part in the carrying on of an unincorporated business under a prohibited name.

There are, however, three statutory exceptions to the restriction imposed by section 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and these are set out in Part 22 of the Rules. One of these exceptions involves the creditors being notified within a specific deadline that a company will be using a prohibited name. However, you should be aware that, although the Rules provide a 28-day timescale within which this matter may be addressed by means of a notice published in the Gazette and to all the Company’s creditors (see Rule 22.4(3)(a)), the notice must be given and published before a Company Director acts in any of the above capacities. If this timescale is not met, then it may be necessary to apply to court for permission to use the name (see Section 216(3)).

It is a criminal offence to contravene section 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and if you act in contravention of this section you are liable on conviction to imprisonment and/or a fine. In addition, by virtue of section 217 of the Insolvency Act 1986, a person who is involved in the management of a Company in contravention of section 216 is personally liable for any debts of the Company incurred during the period of that involvement.

You should seek independent legal advice both to ensure that you do not contravene section 216 and if you wish to take advantage of the statutory exceptions.