Becoming more eco-friendly in both our personal and professional lives is hardly a new concept, in fact, it’s something that organisations everywhere continue to practise and work on. A lot of the time, when a business goes into liquidation, they do not consider the environmental benefits that can come with it. This is fair enough, given liquidation can be an incredibly stressful period, the way that it might impact the planet tends to be at the back of a lot of business owners’ minds; however, the fact of the matter remains that by going through liquidation, businesses are actually benefiting the environment a great amount.
The Process of Liquidation
Liquidation occurs when an organisation finds itself in hard times and as such is not in a position to pay off various debts and liabilities that it might owe. There are a number of different reasons why a business might find itself in a position where it needs to be liquidated. When this occurs, the liquidation process includes the following steps:
- The process of liquidation will get underway, this can take a few different forms such as a Members Voluntary Liquidation, a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation or a Compulsory Liquidation.
- A licensed insolvency practitioner will be appointed to oversee the liquidation process and act in the best interests of both the business and the creditors.
- The liquidation of the company will then be made public knowledge by being advertised in the Gazette. This gives any other unnamed creditors a chance to come forward and claim whatever it is that might be owed to them.
- The company undergoes the winding-up This is where all of the different assets of a company are collated and have a value placed upon them before they are sold. This includes tangible assets such as office equipment and land, as well as non-tangible assets like stocks and shares.
- All of the profit made from the selling of these various assets are used to pay off any liabilities which are currently owed to creditors
- The last step is that the company is struck from Companies House and in turn ceases to exist.
The Environmental Benefits of Asset Reuse and Recycling
As can be seen above, the final process of liquidation is to sell the business’s assets in order to generate money which can be used in order to pay off the organisation’s debt. Doing this is incredibly beneficial for the environment as there are a number of assets used by a business which would likely be broken down or scrapped, which would only contribute towards the likes of landfill and pollution. By selling on these assets, businesses put themselves in a better position to pay off more debt and assist with the liquidation process but are doing their bit for the planet as well.
Organisations need to be environmentally cautious when it comes to their operation, even if they are going into liquidation. This is because of how much of a threat climate change currently is to the whole planet and businesses contribute towards it a great deal. Not only that but there is personal interest vested in being environmentally friendly too, as businesses are able to benefit from being as much in many different ways.
The Benefits of a Business Being Environmentally Friendly
So, what are some of the major benefits that come with an organisation being more environmentally friendly? They include but are not limited to some of the following:
- Save Money On Energy Bills
When you are in liquidation it is important that you are trying to save money everywhere you can and by being more environmentally friendly you are ensuring that that’s what you’re doing. When your business is a lot more environmentally friendly, you won’t use as much energy and as such won’t spend as much on your energy bills. This includes the likes of going paperless as well as simply reusing and recycling more. Throughout the liquidation process, you should still have a solid financial game plan so that you can spend as little as possible throughout the process and effectively pay off creditors.
- Improve Your Reputation
Even if your business is closing, that doesn’t mean that you as a business owner are never going to own a business again or work high up in an organisation again. When it comes to getting a job or obtaining customers, reputation in the professional world is incredibly important and as such, you need to make sure that you are doing as much as you can to uphold your reputation, even if your current business is in the process of closing. One of the best ways to improve your reputation is by ensuring that you are environmentally conscious as this is something that people look incredibly favourably on these days given how prevalent an issue it is for the planet.
- You Are Doing Your Bit for the Environment
There is no doubt that one of the biggest issues which are facing the planet in this day and age is climate change. As such, people need to do all that they can in order to combat the negative implications of it. This means trying to beat the impact of climate change both on a personal level and also on a professional one. Your organisation can contribute to this throughout the liquidation process if things are handled correctly.
Do You Need Help with the Liquidation Process?
If your business is currently undergoing liquidation and you need some help throughout the process then you should reach out to experts such as Simple Liquidation. At Simple Liquidation, our team of professionals will be able to sit down with you to understand the current position of your business as well as provide information on the most effective way that you can move forward which will help both you as a business owner, your organisation and your creditors. If you have any questions or require any further information then do not hesitate to get in touch.
