Companies House strike off – act quickly to avoid invalid appointments

Published 19 July 2021

Companies House temporarily paused their strike off processes in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect of this was to stay all strike off action. The stay was lifted on 10 October 2020 but stayed for a second time on 21 January 2021.

The second stay was lifted on 8 March 2021 and, absent further significant disruption caused by COVID-19, is unlikely to be subject to a further stay.

It is vital that insolvency practitioners are alert to any strike off action in connection with a proposed appointment and that objections are lodged as early as possible (even if the filing record at Companies House indicates that the strike off action has been suspended). We have encountered numerous cases where problems have arisen in connection with an office holders’ appointment by reason of strike off action continuing.

If in doubt (including where the filing record indicates that the action has been suspended) an objection should be lodged at the earliest opportunity where an appointment is proposed.