Walter Smith Fine Foods ends moratorium after five-year restructuring arc

Walter Smith Fine Foods Limited, a Birmingham meat processor and fine foods wholesaler, brought its Schedule A1 moratorium to a close on 2 January 2020, roughly five weeks after entering the protection on 25 November 2019. The end of the moratorium was published in the Gazette on 7 January 2020.

A Schedule A1 moratorium is a short-term breathing space under the Insolvency Act 1986 that allows a company to pause most creditor action while it attempts to put a rescue plan in place, typically a company voluntary arrangement. It is distinct from administration and does not involve the appointment of insolvency practitioners to run the business.

The company operates from Federation House, 383 Garretts Green Lane, Birmingham, B33 0UB. It was incorporated in August 2009 under the name GG130 Limited before taking its current trading name the same year. Its registered SIC codes cover production and preservation of meat and meat products, wholesale of meat and meat products, and retail sale of meat and meat products.

The directors

At the time of the moratorium, the directors of Walter Smith Fine Foods were Mark Edward Burnhope, Robert David Jones and Paul Richard Cadman, all appointed at incorporation in August 2009. Cadman also served as company secretary. He resigned from both roles in December 2025. Anthony Charles Yorath, an earlier director, had resigned in October 2018.

Secured lenders

Two lenders hold outstanding registered charges against the company. HSBC Bank PLC holds a fixed and floating charge over all assets, created on 14 August 2017 and delivered to Companies House the following day. A floating charge is a form of security over assets that change from time to time, such as stock, debtors and cash; it crystallises into a fixed charge on an insolvency event. Bell Finance Limited also holds two outstanding registered charges, both created in late April 2017 and delivered in early May 2017, though the nature of those charges is not described in the public filings.

What followed the moratorium

The moratorium appears to have served its intended purpose. According to the public record, Walter Smith Fine Foods subsequently completed a company voluntary arrangement on 17 January 2025, more than five years after the protective period ended. A CVA is a formal agreement between a company and its unsecured creditors to repay debts over time while the business continues to trade. Timothy Frank Corfield is recorded as the appointed supervisor. The company remains active.

For creditors and suppliers

Now that a CVA has been completed, its terms govern how outstanding creditor claims are handled. Creditors included in the CVA will have received formal documentation from the supervisor setting out repayment terms and the process for submitting a proof of debt, the formal claim form used to evidence the amount owed to each creditor.

While the moratorium was in force between November 2019 and January 2020, most creditor enforcement action was paused under paragraph 43 of Schedule B1 of the Insolvency Act 1986. During that period, creditors could not start or continue most court proceedings without the court's permission.

Suppliers and trade creditors who are unsecured rank behind secured lenders such as HSBC Bank PLC and Bell Finance Limited in any distribution of assets. Customers with outstanding orders or deposits also rank as unsecured creditors in the absence of any specific security or trust arrangement.

Employees whose wages, notice pay or redundancy entitlements were affected during any part of the restructuring process may have claims treated as preferential in part. The Redundancy Payments Service, operated by the Insolvency Service, handles statutory redundancy claims where an employer is unable to meet them directly.