Christmas may be a time for celebration but for many businesses it can be the holiday that leads to crisis rather than good cheer.
But insolvency expert Ryan Holdsworth says that careful planning for the future is the way to ensure not only a Happy New Year but also a much more positive future.
“It is true that a number of small businesses will struggle through the holiday period, paying staff through the Christmas shutdown and also discovering that some contacts and clients will use the holiday period as an excuse not to pay outstanding bills,” said Ryan, the manager at Sheffield insolvency and business turnaround specialists Graywoods.
For a company already facing a crisis, he explained, any delay in responding to issues of this nature could be critical and with tax bills to be paid within weeks of the Christmas break, it might seem that insolvency is suddenly the only possible course of action.
“For businesses that take advice as soon as they spot they have a potential problem, though, there are a range of turnaround and restructuring options that can help them to build on their strengths and prepare them for a much more secure future,” Ryan said.
“One of the best and most positive things about this job is that people come to us thinking they are at the end of the line when actually there are a range of options that can be utilised to help people to decide how best to deal with their business and financial problems.
“At Graywoods we pride ourselves on helping businesses to survive and to turn around and at this time of the year in particular, we want to be able to offer a positive experience.
“Everybody wants a happy Christmas and by taking the right steps at the right time there’s no reason most businesses shouldn’t continue functioning healthily into the future.”
