CASE STUDIES
The company’s business is steeped in history. In 1685, Guillaume Toye arrived in Great Britain to pursue his passion for silk weaving and craftsmanship that led to his successors serving royalty and leaders around the world. Today, the Toye family continue to run the business.
Covid-19 had placed a heavy burden on a company that had provided ceremonial insignia, regalia, jewellery, awards and bespoke objet d’art worldwide. Specifically due to Covid-19, ceremonial and sporting events were cancelled and orders froze for up to two years in certain countries.
The directors approached CMB after having failed in attempts to reach a time-to-pay arrangement with HM Revenue and Customs, the largest single creditor. At the point at which we first met the directors, they had been told by HMRC that the matter was being passed to solicitors to begin winding-up proceedings.
We asked HMRC for a brief respite whilst we reviewed the business and the key elements that led to its insolvency. We very soon decided that the problems lay solely with the impact of Covid-19 and that the company had since turned a corner and had returned to profitability. The business was fundamentally very sound and the problems were not forecast to return. Also, the company held a royal warrant which meant that the business could not be sold or transferred to another entity.
With a proud history of 350 years of trading, we embarked on preparing a company voluntary arrangement that would the enable the continuation of the same business, thereby preserving its integrity, saving jobs and ensuring creditors stood the best chance of a full recovery of their indebtedness. We consulted with the key stakeholders, including the royal warrant holders association and HMRC. We included specific proposals to ensure HMRCs future liabilities were settled promptly and that any other defaults were immediately addressed.
HMRC voted in favour of the CVA proposals and the company survived and prospered.
