The client
We were approached by the owners of a popular coffee shop that had run up tens of thousands of pounds of debt, sadly sparked by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The challenge
The coffee shop in County Durham had been happily trading for the last few years and was a vibrant business in a busy shopping centre.
Unfortunately, the coffee shop had suffered in 2020 after months of being unable to trade during the lockdown and Covid-19 restrictions.
The limited company needed dissolving while dealing with multiple debts, including £12,000 of rent, a VAT bill of £9,000, rates of £15,000, a small PAYE debt, and bills owed to suppliers.
As well as debts to HMRC, the coffee shop had creditors, including a debt collection agency acting on behalf of a utility company that needed dealing with throughout the closure process.
The company had some money in its bank account but wanted to pay what staff wages it could.
The result
After quickly switching the company’s address to Future Strategies business address, all correspondence was delivered to our team, and we dealt with creditor enquiries on the client’s behalf.
We also worked with the owners of the shopping centre where the shop had been located, helping to negotiate the rights to equipment the coffee shop owners had been forced to abandon, including complications over some items’ ownership.
Despite the difficulties of Covid-19, we were able to dissolve the company, striking it off the Companies House register while dealing with creditors, leaving the coffee shop owners with much less to worry about after a challenging year.