KSA Group CVA Experts.

Why We Are Experts At CVAs! Read Our Story Regarding This Rescue Mechanism.

By Keith Steven Managing Director. KSA Group Ltd.

A little bit of history. I was involved with a number of insolvency and turnaround firms between 1996 and 2001. I invented the first online insolvency website in 2001. Since then millions of directors, creditors and shareholders have used the website www.companyrescue.co.uk

KSA Group started taking formal insolvency appointments in 2009 with the merger of KSA Group and Marlor Walls in the summer of that year.

We have learned a massive amount about the technique, we’ve gained experience from dealing with over 320 CVA appointments between 2009 and September 2022 . That’s 320 crisis situations – devising appropriate rescue and turnaround strategies together with our clients’ boards of directors, their lenders investors and stakeholders like creditors, landlords and employees.

Many in the insolvency world have a somewhat negative approach to the CVA tool. Variously over the years we have been told that “CVA doesn’t work, they are never the best solution, they hardly ever succeed. Creditors get nothing. HMRC will not support a CVA” and we understand that approach. Often clients or prospective clients report to us that other insolvency firms don't like the CVA tool. Perhaps that’s why CVAs are not that common. Only 175 were approved nationally in the year to 30th December 2023.

We beg to differ. A well structured, “fit, fair and feasible CVA” scheme can:

1. Rescue viable businesses when a critical event has occurred.
2. With a well crafted CVA we can help "rightsize a company's cost base, reduce employee and overhead costs and get the business profitable again.
3. Help a determined management team rebuild a failing business.
4. Save jobs of employees. It is likely that KSA saved over 11,000 jobs from 2009-2022.
5. Return money to creditors: KSA distributed ￡31m to creditors 2009-2022. This excludes secured debts and secured factoring facilities, much of which have been or will be repaid.
6. Repaid ￡17.9m to HMRC between 2009 and 2022, remember this for the most part when HMRC was an unsecured creditor (2009-2020). That’s taxpayers money.
7. Preserved 320 customers for thousands for suppliers, accountants, landlords, asset based lenders and professional advisors.

Nobody knows more than the KSA team, that CVA rescues are tough to construct, tough to implement, and tougher still for companies to successfully recover from.? We have filed more successful CVAs than any other practitioner.?

The London Gazette (the official paper of record dating back to the 17th Century) has published an article about CVAs written by me.

Diligent and organised directors can use this enormously powerful tool, case law and best CVA practice to drive a turnaround, if guided by experienced turnaround and insolvency professionals. Be under no illusion this is tougher on the directors than anything they will do in their careers. Emotionally, intellectually and physically, the CVA-led turnaround requires directors to have resilience, physical and mental determination and a good plan led by seasoned CVA experts.

Of course, not all CVAs reach full term, but the process usually will have secured jobs, paid back creditors a good chunk of what they were owed and with that helped reduce directors liability under their personal guarantees.

Conversely, some clients paid off a 3-5 year CVA scheme debts in 6-18 months. Others went through mergers and acquisitions processes, which preserved jobs and businesses. Many plodded on to successfully pay back the CVA as planned. Still the key for us is we did our best to help companies and their creditors recover from a crisis.

It has to be said that even with KSA’s “evangelical zeal for CVAs “ as an insolvency firm, the majority of our work by case numbers is normal voluntary liquidations and administrations. Too many SME directors leave the decision to take advice from the insolvency world far too late. Would we have rescued more of these liquidations had the directors only approached us sooner? Impossible to tell.

Our final point would be to funders, lenders, investors, VCs and family office investors. In the main, secured creditors stand outside of a CVA process which can lead to dilution for preferential and unsecured creditors. What do you have to lose by encouraging your clients or customers to take advice on RESCUE options like CVA first?

The CVA team at KSA Group is made up of creative turnaround advisors, creditor liaison experts, tough debt negotiators, brilliant financial modellers and pragmatic insolvency practitioners. We will always look at rescue and closure options impartially and based upon our professional assessment of viability. Yes, many directors come to us liking the CVA option, unfortunately many of these businesses or directors simply don’t have the necessary attributes for a rescue.

Now, as a team we have, since 1996 collectively over 500 company voluntary arrangement deals, built, filed and approved by creditors, we believe we know a fair deal about this rescue tool! Get in touch if your client, customer, investee or your company is interested in leading edge CVA advice.

0800 9700539

www.companyrescue.com

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