Having been issued a compulsory strike off means that your company has ceased to exist. However, before that happens you will be given ample opportunity to respond to allegations that you failed to comply with rules and regulations as set forth in UK laws. According to the Companies Act of 2006, you can be found non-compliant, which is grounds for dissolving your company if proven. In other words, you would cease to exist, and all assets would be liquidated. Can you stop it? The process is complicated and even a small omission on your part could hinder your efforts to save your company. If it is a compulsory strike off, you might start by talking to a team of insolvency practitioners and here is why.

Compulsory Is Based on Third Party Evidence

While you can always voluntarily dissolve your company by following the recognised process of settling accounts, liquidating assets and so forth, a compulsory strike off means that you have been accused of one or more of the following:

• Failure to submit accounts timely

• Annual confirmation statement not submitted

• Non-conformance to legal requirements

• No directors having been appointed

• Company has ceased trading

Typically, it would be Companies House as the ‘accuser’ but it could really be any third party if they have documented evidence.

The Process

In the beginning you will be sent a letter of imminent compulsory strike off after which you will be sent a second letter if you do not respond timely. After no response to the second letter the compulsory strike off will be published in the Gazette and by that point the matter is serious indeed. If you had any intention of saving your company from dissolution, you should probably have acted sooner. However, even at this late stage of the game, all is not lost quite yet. There are still actions you could take to prevent being dissolved and struck off, but it will take the expertise of Insolvency Practitioners to show just cause why this would be a miscarriage of justice.

What Not to Do

It might be mentioned here that one of the worst things you can do is to simply shut your doors and stop trading to await the edict of the court. One of the reasons why you can be issued a compulsory strike off in the first place is because you have stopped trading. You can’t clear your good name and accounts that way. Again, let an Insolvency Practitioner guide you through the process so that you don’t make an even greater error than the error or errors you are now being accused of.

Since you are asking if you can stop a compulsory strike off it is obvious that you want to continue operating and are not amenable to voluntary liquidation. This might mean digging in and letting the process be handled by a pro who can make arrangements with the court to keep you in business. It can be a legal mess, but you can win with proper representation.