Directors who come to us are often dealing with more than one problem at once — a company creditor, a personal guarantee, an HMRC demand, a liquidator asking questions. We look at the full picture: the business position and the personal position together. The two are almost always connected, and advice that ignores one side of that is incomplete.
- Your bounce back loan is the only creditor — but the repayment is killing cash flow
- A winding up petition has been served and you don’t know how long you have
- HMRC is pressing for a debt the company cannot pay in one go
- A bank or lender is calling a personal guarantee you signed years ago
- A liquidator has been appointed and is making claims against you personally
- You’re not sure what category your situation falls into — only that you need help
Not sure where your situation fits? That’s fine — call or message us and describe it in your own words. Everything is completely confidential and there’s no charge for the initial conversation.
We are on your side — and only your side
Tap each card to see what that means in practice.
The initial conversation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation.
Speak to us before anyone else gets involved
No charge for the initial conversation. No obligation to proceed. Everything you tell us is completely confidential.
What we can achieve for directors and business owners
- Bounce back loan restructured to a repayment level the business can sustain — without liquidation
- Winding up petition challenged, negotiated, or withdrawn before it reaches the Gazette
- HMRC Time to Pay arrangement agreed — tax debt spread over a manageable period
- Personal guarantee negotiated — settlement reached with bank or lender, often below face value
- Liquidator’s claim against director settled — DLA recovery or misfeasance allegation resolved
- The earlier we’re involved, the more of these outcomes remain open.
“Thirty years in business ended in an HMRC fraud judgment — resolved without criminal proceedings or losing retirement plans.”
- £360,000 HMRC fraud judgment resolved via negotiated settlement
- Net repayment of £250,000 agreed with liquidator
- HMRC confirmed no personal criminal proceedings — both directors retired within 12 months
This case was referred by Price Mann Ltd, Chartered Accountants. Most of our work comes through professional referrals.
What happens when you contact us
Four steps. No jargon. No pressure. No charge for the first conversation.
You make contact
Call or message us — completely confidential, no obligation. Tell us as much or as little as you like about your situation.
We map the full picture
We look at the company position and your personal position together. A solution that fixes one side and ignores the other isn’t a solution.
You understand your options
We set out what is available, what each route means for you personally, and what the trade-offs are. You decide — we don’t push.
We handle it
We negotiate with banks, lenders, IPs, their solicitors and HMRC on your behalf — working entirely for you throughout.
“I cannot thank Priti enough for her help during the most stressful time of my life. She was always available and kept me calm throughout the whole process.”
Directors we’ve helped in complex situations
Each case is different. What they share is that the director spoke to us — and things moved differently because of it.
“My brother Derek and I had run our business for over thirty years without a single problem… Suddenly a business we’d built our whole working lives around was staring at a judgment that could follow us personally.”
We negotiated a global settlement with the liquidator on the directors’ behalf, resolving a £360,000 HMRC fraud judgment for a net repayment of £250,000, with HMRC’s assurance that no personal criminal proceedings would follow. Derek and John proceeded into retirement within twelve months, free of further exposure.
“I’d built this business over twenty years. My name was on the door. By the time my accountant referred me to Lightside, we were close to the edge. I wasn’t prepared to liquidate — but I didn’t know if there was another way.”
Liquidation was on the table — we reviewed it seriously. But before any route was committed to, we remodelled the trading figures with two adjustments: removing personal credit card repayments that had been draining business cash, and restating stock costs to reflect theft by a rogue employee. Both adjustments were real — and together they revealed an underlying viable business that the raw numbers had obscured. Lightside then negotiated an informal creditor arrangement for George’s personal debts, freezing interest and charges, and separately agreed an HMRC Time to Pay arrangement for overdue VAT. The business was saved and continues to trade. George is now working part-time, handing the business to the next generation.
“I didn’t want to close. The accountant mentioned winding the company up, and it was starting to feel like the only conversation anyone wanted to have. But closing felt like giving up on something I’d spent years building.”
Diana’s bounce back loan was the company’s only significant creditor — the business itself remained viable, with clients and market presence. The monthly repayment schedule was creating the cash flow pressure, not the underlying business. Lightside reviewed the financials and approached the bank with a structured commercial position: the alternative to a restructured plan was a liquidation the bank would need to fund, with minimal recovery prospects from an asset-light company. When the bank passed the matter to appointed debt collection agents, Lightside negotiated directly and secured a repayment plan of under £20 per month with interest frozen. The business continues to trade.
What professional advisers need to know
Directors who come to us through professional referrals often arrive at a point where the situation has a company dimension and a personal dimension — and the two need to be addressed together. We do that routinely. If your client is facing a BBL demand, a winding up petition, an HMRC liability, or a liquidator making personal claims, we can take the referral and advise quickly.
We are FCA-authorised (Firm Ref 676943) and work entirely for the director. That means we are not the insolvency practitioner, we are not acting for the bank, and we are not collecting on behalf of HMRC. We are the party negotiating in your client’s interest — which makes us a complement to insolvency advice, not a substitute for it, and a useful resource at the pre-insolvency stage when options are still open.
Speculative enquiries are completely confidential. You can discuss a client situation with us before any referral is made and with no commitment required. Most of our referrals come from accountants and solicitors who want to know whether there is a viable non-insolvency route before they recommend one.
Send us a referral message
Anonymised referrals are welcome. Tell us as much or as little as is useful about the client’s situation — we’ll come back to you promptly.
✓ Message sent — thank you. All referral enquiries are treated in complete confidence.
Cases referred by professionals
“My brother Derek and I had run our business for over thirty years without a single problem… Suddenly a business we’d built our whole working lives around was staring at a judgment that could follow us personally.”
We negotiated a global settlement with the liquidator on the directors’ behalf, resolving a £360,000 HMRC fraud judgment for a net repayment of £250,000, with HMRC’s assurance that no personal criminal proceedings would follow. Derek and John proceeded into retirement within twelve months, free of further exposure.
“I’d built this business over twenty years. My name was on the door. By the time my accountant referred me to Lightside, we were close to the edge. I wasn’t prepared to liquidate — but I didn’t know if there was another way.”
Liquidation was on the table — we reviewed it seriously. Before any route was committed to, we remodelled the trading figures, removing personal credit card repayments and restating stock costs to reflect internal theft. Both adjustments revealed an underlying viable business. Lightside negotiated an informal creditor arrangement and a separate HMRC Time to Pay for overdue VAT. The business was saved; George now works part-time, handing the business to the next generation.
“I didn’t want to close. The accountant mentioned winding the company up, and it was starting to feel like the only conversation anyone wanted to have. But closing felt like giving up on something I’d spent years building.”
Diana’s BBL was the company’s only significant creditor. The business itself remained viable. We approached the bank with a structured commercial position — the alternative was a liquidation the bank would need to fund, with minimal recovery from an asset-light company. When the bank passed the matter to appointed debt collection agents, we negotiated directly and secured a repayment plan of under £20 per month with interest frozen. The business continues to trade.