£1 million of monies collected in two weeks

Securing the support of key stakeholders quickly and working as a team resulted in full repayment of our client’s banking facility. 

Overview

The business had worked with global shipping lines and freight forwarders in a complex supply chain and they were facing an impending site closure so we had to work to really tight timescales. Liaising closely with both the asset valuer and the IP to ensure the release of goods was not compromised, or outstanding debt not paid for, helped us maximise the outcomes for all parties within just two weeks. Gaining the support of key personnel in the business also assisted with the speed of response.

Our approach

We attended on-site meetings with the IP, company director and asset valuer to formulate a strategy to protect all parties through the administration.  

Books and records were secured and debtors advised that we were working on behalf of the secured lender. We immediately targeted customers for which containers were held on site. 

Site clearance of containers with stock in them was of the utmost urgency before site control was passed back to the landlord and containers ‘locked in’, which could have  resulted in customers asking for an offset of payment against outstanding debts owed. 

This also gave us the opportunity to resolve any queries or disputes, and ultimately, collect payments. Ongoing reporting was completed to identify any risks to the collections.

Key issues we identified

As the company had ceased to trade, the debtors were reviewing all of their documentation and, inevitably, queries started to be flagged. These included questions over missing containers, disputes over charges, contras and the return of containers stored at the company’s yard.  The client held its containers on site, some of which contained stock for delivery to the end customer. 

We reviewed every query and obtained documentation from the debtors to support their claims and negotiated settlement figures with the approval of the secured lender. 

Obtaining payment was difficult at times, with drivers arriving on site to collect the containers. There were considerable negotiations to make sure that we managed the release of containers against payment of outstanding debt. We worked in conjunction with the valuers and IP to ensure stock was not released to them without securing either a payment, or, obtaining a payment date from customers.

What we recommended

We worked closely with the asset valuer on this case, who provided an inventory of containers remaining on site and ensured they were not removed without liaising with us.  We checked payments from the debtors had been secured before allowing the collection. By working closely together we were able to release the containers in a timely manner and ensure payment was made or promised, especially in such tight timeframes.

The results we secured

We collected c £1m of monies outstanding to the lender within two weeks of commencing the assignment, resulting in full repayment of the lenders invoice finance facility, with surplus cash returned to the lender as well. 

In quick conclusion

We secured the support of the logistics firm’s key personnel in order to maximise collections as quickly and efficiently as possible. They worked closely with us to navigate a tricky situation under extreme time pressures, as did the asset valuer and IP,  and it was a real team effort amongst all the advisors and the lender to achieve the results that we did.