PNO Group in Liquidation

20th May, 2021

PNO Group in Liquidation

PNO Group (Company record) was a company offering a contractor scheme from early 2016 to late 2019. It has now fallen into liquidation and following the settling of legal disputes with the former single shareholder and director, Mr Matthew Tanner, the liquidator is looking to complete their work. The liquidator is a firm called CG & Co Recovery via their Director, Mr Edward Avery-Gee. A public liquidator’s update can be found here.

The scheme that PNO operated seems to be one in which employees were offered a small salary and a larger, but deferred, bonus. With the company going into liquidation it seems unlikely that the bonus has ever been paid or, for present purposes more importantly, set off against any alleged loan balances.

Certainly the liquidator reports that some 771 employees have “borrowed” £10.7m which so far has not be requested “due to the Covid crisis”. There are indications however that the liquidators do see this sum as a potentially valuable asset and having taken legal advice may well begin issuing demands shortly.

If you do get a demand from one of the above parties, do not ignore it. Even if you have settled the tax position with HMRC, if a loan is considered legally valid, then it can be demanded. Equally, a demand does not mean it is legally due. There are a number of defences that WTT has developed that robustly counter any such claims. (see here for work in this area). We will do so via a group of individuals in similar circumstances with a view to sharing costs and for mutual support.

If you do get a demand, please contact us here – you are entitled to a free initial call -and we can discuss your position on a no obligation basis.