Ron was a founder member of HLW in 1992. However, his career began in 1979 when he qualified as a solicitor and went into commercial practice, focusing principally on commercial litigation and insolvency work.

HMRC announced just before the turn of the New Year an extension of its “time to pay” scheme allowing business and individuals to reach agreements to pay tax, national insurance and VAT liabilities by instalments. Whilst this has been welcomed by businesses facing a continued squeeze on their cash flow it does have its drawbacks. The scheme will only be allowed to businesses that have not had enforcement action taken against them by HMRC and acceptance into the scheme has not been uniformly granted by HMRC officials. Also, HMRC is under pressure from Government to increase the tax collection so there has been a clear tightening of the scheme, leading to some businesses no longer being able to obtain the agreement they expected.

All directors have duties to act in a company’s best interests and with due care and skill. When it appears that the company is in financial difficulties, its directors’ duties may also extend to protecting the interests of creditors of that company.