Company ‘strike offs’ to resume in Autumn

Wednesday, 26th August 2020 15:32

As the business world begins to awaken and we return to some ‘normality’, Companies House has announced that it will reintroduce the compulsory and voluntary company strike off processes that were suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

Whilst companies have still been able to apply for ‘voluntary strike off’ and Companies House has continued to publish these notices to the Gazette as is the norm, any further action beyond this point was suspended in March 2020. This was to allow creditors and other third parties to raise objections.

From 10th September 2020, Companies House will lift the suspension on this process and any companies who applied for voluntary strike off prior to the pandemic will now proceed in the usual manner; if there are no objections to dissolution of the company within two months of the Gazette notice, the company will be struck off. For any creditors or third parties who may have raised objections prior to the suspension, it is prudent to raise these objections again at Companies House.

10th October will also see Companies House resume compulsory ‘strike off’ process.  This where Companies House ‘strikes off’ Limited companies that it believes are no longer operating. In April  2020, Companies House introduced a temporary easement measure in order to allow creditors time to object to the proposed action.  

Companies that meet the following criteria are deemed suitable to strike off:

  • Failure to submit company documents, field account or confirmation statements
  • There has been no response to official Companies House letters
  • Letter sent by Companies House are returned
  • The company has no listed directors

If a company fails to meet the criteria set out by Companies House, a notice is then published in the Gazette to tell the public that the registrar intends to strike off the company. There is then a two-month period where objections can be raised from creditors or third parties. This is particularly important as when a company is struck off, business debts are usually wipe

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