Energy consultancy Great Annual Savings (GAS) has been given time to forge ahead with a restructuring plan after a High Court hearing to consider a winding up order was adjourned.
The Seaham based business and former Sunderland shirt sponsor, which has 160 employees, has been helping businesses to reduce their variable costs in energy, water, telecoms, merchant services and insurance for the last 10 years but it traded through challenging times in the pandemic, when staff had to be furloughed. The company built up liabilities owed to HM Revenue and Customs over the pandemic and has since been challenged by rising costs. In efforts to rightsize the firm and get back to growth, the brokerage called in advisors from Shoosmiths and FRP Advisory, which are working on plans to reshape the business.
Bosses at GAS said they will shortly be proposing a restructuring plan under Part 26A of the Companies Act - a statutory procedure under English Law which allows companies to agree a compromise or arrangement with its creditors, and for the terms of that compromise or arrangement to bind any non-consenting or opposing minority creditors. The company said it has also put forward a schedule of repayments to HMRC.
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However, in the meantime, commissioners acting for the Government department filed a petition to wind up Great Annual Savings. The hearing was scheduled to take place at the High Court in London this week but, after learning of the group’s restructure plan, the hearing was adjourned.
A spokesman for GAS confirmed the adjournment, saying: “On Friday 18th November 2022, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publicly advertised a winding up petition aimed at Great Annual Savings Group (GAS). The group is pleased to announce that on Monday 5th December, HMRC confirmed that they consented to the adjournment of the resulting hearing, which was scheduled for Wednesday December 7, until after a sanction hearing for the group’s restructure plan. The adjournment has been confirmed.
“This will allow appropriate time for the restructuring process to play out in full and allow engagement with relevant stakeholders, including HMRC themselves. This is a positive step for all parties towards the best possible resolution.
“The group would like to reiterate that the ongoing restructuring will not impact customer contracts or services and it is operating business as usual. GAS looks forward to completing the restructure and returning to growth.”
The restructure plan comes after a period of rapid growth before the pandemic struck, when it employed more than 300 people. It had invested a multimillion-pound sum into its head office at Spectrum Business Park to accommodate a growing workforce and planned to create more jobs in the larger office, which was four times the size of its original base.
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