About us

We are a government agency that helps to deliver economic confidence by supporting those in financial distress, tackling financial wrongdoing and maximising returns to creditors.

Who we are

We are an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) with headquarters in London. We have around 1,700 staff operating from 22 locations across Great Britain.

Responsibilities

We:

  • administer bankruptcies and debt relief orders
  • look into the affairs of companies in liquidation, making reports of any director misconduct
  • investigate trading companies and take action to wind them up or disqualify the directors if there is evidence of misconduct
  • investigate the conduct of directors of companies subject to formal insolvency proceedings, or that have been dissolved
  • act as trustee or liquidator where no private sector insolvency practitioner is in place
  • issue redundancy payments from the National Insurance Fund
  • work to disqualify unfit company directors
  • deal with bankruptcy and debt relief restrictions orders and undertakings
  • act as a impartial source of information for the public on insolvency and redundancy matters
  • advise DBT ministers and other government departments and agencies on insolvency and redundancy related issues
  • investigate and prosecute breaches of company and insolvency legislation and other criminal offences on behalf of DBT

Customer charter

Our customer charter details the levels of service you can expect from us.

Corporate information

Access our information

Jobs and contracts

Read about the types of information we routinely publish in our Publication scheme. Our Personal information charter explains how we treat your personal information. Read our policy on Social media use.

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