HMRC Files Winding-Up Petition Against Avison Young

On 22 July 2026, HM Revenue and Customs filed a winding-up petition against multiple UK entities within the Avison Young group, one of the country’s known commercial real estate advisers. HMRC’s action targets group companies including Avison Young Holdings Limited (CR-2026-005727), Avison Young Workplace Limited (CR-2026-005725), Avison Young (UK) Limited (CR-2026-005755) and Avison Young Project Management Limited (CR-2026-005756), with Avison Young Real Estate Finance Limited (CR-2026-005766) also named. The Birmingham-headquartered firm has publicly indicated it expects to shortly resolve the petition, which it attributes to a historical tax obligation. This article examines the statutory framework HMRC has invoked, why coordinated group-level petitioning matters, and the immediate priorities for any board served in similar circumstances. In our experience defending petitions in the Companies Court, the first 48 hours are almost always decisive. 

The Legal Framework: Insolvency Act 1986 and the Companies Court

A winding-up petition is a formal application to the court under section 124 of the Insolvency Act 1986 asking that a company be compulsorily liquidated. HMRC, historically the most active petitioning creditor in England and Wales, must satisfy the court that a ground for winding up under section 122 is made out. In the overwhelming majority of tax cases the petitioner relies on section 122(1)(f): that the company is unable to pay its debts.

Inability to pay is defined by section 123 of the Insolvency Act 1986. HMRC typically relies either on section 123(1)(a) (an unpaid statutory demand for £750 or more) or on section 123(1)(e) (the cash-flow test proved to the court’s satisfaction). Petitions are governed procedurally by the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 and, for large corporates, are heard in the Companies Court within the Business and Property Courts. Once presented, section 127 of the Insolvency Act 1986 voids any subsequent disposition of company property unless validated by the court.

Facing HMRC Winding-Up Petition?

The Avison Young facts underline the single point our specialist team makes to every board that calls with a fresh petition in hand: the advertisement window in the London Gazette drives the entire timetable, not the substantive court hearing. Once the seven business-day clock starts, most clearing banks freeze company accounts within 24 hours as a matter of automated policy to avoid liability under section 127 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Our dual-qualified barrister and solicitor expert insolvency team routinely applies for injunctions restraining Gazette advertisement, secures urgent section 127 validation orders to keep payroll and critical suppliers paid, and negotiates HMRC petition withdrawals through our specialist tax disputes practice. We deliver strategic legal advice at your first discounted fixed fee meeting. We get optimal legal results. Want a first or second opinion on your case? Call our London insolvency litigators on ☎ 02071830529 or request an urgent case assessment online.

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The information on this website is not legal advice; you should always obtain specific advice on the circumstances of your case. Our Winding-up Petition Solicitors & Barristers provide specialist legal advice based on decades of expertise. Request a legal assessment or call +442071830529 to get in touch. For regulatory reasons we do not take on low value cases nor provide free legal advice, information or guidance and our team cannot answer questions from non-clients.

Why HMRC Petitions Corporate Groups Separately?

The reported action against Avison Young was launched against five separate group companies. Coordinated group-level petitioning is a feature of HMRC’s enforcement approach where liabilities cross intra-group trading arrangements, PAYE registrations, or VAT groupings. Each corporate entity is a separate legal person under the principle in Salomon v Salomon [1897] AC 22, and each debt must be independently established for the court to make a winding-up order. Petitioning simultaneously prevents intra-group asset shuffling and ensures HMRC’s position is preserved across the whole trading structure.

The Historical Debt Point

Avison Young has publicly described the underlying liability as a “historical tax obligation” and said resolution is imminent. In practice, HMRC will only present a petition where a debt is undisputed and has remained unpaid despite repeated demands. Where a company genuinely disputes the debt on substantial grounds the court will restrain or dismiss the petition as an abuse of process. A “historical” characterisation does not, of itself, prevent HMRC from petitioning.

The Advertisement Trap

Under rule 7.10 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, a petition must be advertised in the Gazette at least seven business days before the hearing. Gazette publication is the standard trigger for High Street banks to freeze company accounts, halting operational trading almost immediately. For a business of Avison Young’s scale, advertisement would carry acute reputational and commercial consequences, which is precisely why boards should consider urgent applications to restrain advertisement, addressed in our detailed guide to HMRC winding-up petitions.

What Directors Should Do When a Petition Is Served?

Time is the constraining factor. Our practical priority checklist is:

1. Take specialist advice within 24 hours. Presentation to hearing is typically six to eight weeks, but the advertisement window drives the timetable. Delay shortens every remedy available.
2. Apply to restrain advertisement. Where the debt is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds, or a payment or agreement is imminent, an urgent application to the Companies Court can prevent Gazette publication.
3. Consider a validation order under section 127. If accounts are already frozen, or trading must continue, a targeted validation order permits lawful payments (payroll, rent, essential suppliers) and protects counterparties from having transactions unwound.
4. Negotiate a Time to Pay arrangement. For genuine cash-flow embarrassment, HMRC’s Debt Management team may withdraw a petition on the entry into a workable instalment arrangement with HMRC.
5. Preserve director conduct evidence. Once a company enters the twilight of insolvency, directors owe modified duties to creditors and personal exposure under wrongful trading (section 214 Insolvency Act 1986) becomes a live risk.
6. Consider strategic alternatives. A director-led creditors’ voluntary liquidation, administration under paragraph 22 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, or a Company Voluntary Arrangement may preserve stakeholder value where a compulsory winding-up order would destroy it.

Instruct Expert London Winding-Up Petition Barristers and Solicitors

Our dual-qualified barrister and solicitor expert insolvency team acts for corporate directors, boards, general counsel, and finance officers at every stage of the winding-up process: pre-petition negotiation with HMRC’s Enforcement and Insolvency Service, urgent applications to restrain advertisement of a petition, section 127 validation orders to keep the business trading, contested Companies Court hearing representation, Time to Pay adjournments, and subsequent defence of wrongful trading, misfeasance, and personal liability claims brought against directors after any winding-up order.

Where the underlying dispute lies with HMRC, our specialist tax disputes team runs a parallel workstream: challenging HMRC enforcement action, discovery assessments, and penalty determinations, negotiating Time to Pay arrangements with Debt Management, and representing taxpayers in the First-tier and Upper Tribunals in VAT and PAYE disputes. That dual-track capability is decisive where the insolvency clock is running and the tax liability itself remains contested.

We offer Counsel-led advice in our first meeting, for a heavily discounted fixed fee. Our first conference delivers the strategic view of a senior solicitor and specialist barrister together, not a junior triage exercise. If your company has received a statutory demand, a winding-up petition, or an HMRC enforcement warning, urgent specialist advice is critical. Early intervention materially improves outcomes.

Call our City of London insolvency litigators on ☎ 02071830529 or request an immediate confidential case assessment online.