Businesses In Administration

The UK's comprehensive online database of English, Welsh and Scottish companies in administration and administrative receivership. The database is updated every day, and you can opt to have daily email alerts of businesses in administration. This feature is included as part of the service to you when you become a Business Sale Report subscriber.

Information supplied on each business in administration or administrative receivership includes:

• Name of company
• Type of company
• Date of appointment of the administrative receiver/administrator
• Full contact details of the administrative receiver/administrator including name, address, telephone and fax numbers.
• Nature of the business
• Area of operation

Please note our database does not include businesses that are in the following situations:

• In liquidation
• Subject to a winding up order.  Please note this will be included in early 2010 as this a clear warning sign that a businesses is in difficulty.
• Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA)
• Businesses that have just ceased trading and dissolved the limited company.

This is because, by this stage, very little of the business is salvagable with most of the assets being distributed amongst preferential creditors such as the tax authorities, banks, and employees and as such is unlikely to carry on trading.
In our database we list all those administrative receiverships where the appointment date is after 1 Jan 1998. Administrative receiverships are not possible under any security instrument created after 15th September 2003, due to the Government's drive to encourage the use of administrations in place of administrative receiverships. Businesses are now most commonly put into administration.  For more details on the types of corporate insolvency take a look our quick guide to corporate insolvency.

In what circumstances does a company find itself in administration?

When a company is facing financial difficulties it can be placed into administration. This means that while the business is in administration the business, affairs and assets of the company are managed by a person ('the administrator') appointed for that purpose. The administrator must be a licensed insolvency practitioner. The Administrator's objective is to rescue the company as a going concern or achieve a better result for the creditors than would be likely if the company were wound up without first being in administration, or if this is not practical realising assets to make a distribution to secured or preferential creditors. This is often achieved by selling the company, or by selling the company's assets. In many instances the company is still trading.  The use of prepackaged administrations may occur where an agreement for the sale of the business or assets is put in place prior to administration and the sale occurs at the same time as the insolvent practitioner is appointed.


How can a business be placed into administration?

A company may be placed into administration: by an order of the court, on application by, the company, its directors, one or more creditors, or, if it is in liquidation, its liquidator;
without a court order, by the direct appointment of an administrator by the company, its directors or a creditor who holds comprehensive security of a type which qualifies him to make such an appointment.
What is administrative receivership?
Administrative Receivers are appointed by a debenture holder usually over all the company's assets. It is likely that the creditor concerned will be a financier or an individual who has loaned the business money.  However, as mentioned earlier these cannot be appointed with regard to security instruments entered into after September 2003.  The Administrative Receiver's prime responsibility is to protect the interests of the debenture holder and is regarded as a very costly exercise for the business as a whole and the other creditors.