We broke the story of Propshop closing operations, and then subsequently revealed the steps Lucasfilm were taking to secure peoples monies. Now we have received official confirmation via UK business registar, Companies House, that Propshop Productions Ltd entered administration yesterday, the 19th of October.
All forms of UK companies are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by the current Companies Act 2006. All registered limited companies, including subsidiary, small and inactive companies, must file annual financial statements in addition to annual company returns, which are all public records.
Under UK law a company can be placed into administration if it can’t pay it’s debts. It is protected from immediate legal action whilst a professional insolvency practioner (the administrator) is appointed and assesses the situation the company is in.
During administration the business owners must hand over control of the business and all of its assets to the administrator
The administrator will write to the business creditors and Companies House to say they’ve been appointed. This correspondance was received by Companies House on 19th October in relation to Propshop.
The administrator will try to stop the company being wound up (‘liquidated’). If they can’t, they will try to pay as much of your company’s debts as possible from the company’s assets. The administrator has 8 weeks to write a statement explaining what they plan to do. They must send a copy to creditors, employees and Companies House and invite them to approve or amend the plans at a meeting.
The administrator could decide to:
- negotiate a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) so the company can keep trading
- sell the business as a ‘going concern’ to another company – meaning the business can carry on, eg by keeping its clients, workforce or orders
- sell the assets as part of a creditors’ voluntary liquidation, pay the creditors from any money raised and close the company
- close your company if there’s nothing to sell
For as long as the company is in administration the administrator will run the business.
