A Pre-pack is the sale of some or all a distressed company’s business and assets to a new owner after the formal insolvency process, however on terms negotiated and agreed before the insolvency process has commenced. Therefore, it will already have been identified that the business is insolvent and cannot continue trading. If the directors did continue trading, knowing that it is insolvent, they would run the risk that they may be liable for the company’s debts.

As a specialist form of administration, pre-packs are a technique designed by insolvency practitioners to help preserve goodwill and going concern enterprise value in distressed businesses. Prior to this, the options of the business will have been explored and considered. This will include:-

• A Company Voluntary Arrangement, which is an agreement with the creditors to ‘ring-fence’ the debt allowing the company to make a contribution to these from its future profits over a period of time (usually 3 – 5 years). An Insolvency Practitioner will be appointed to monitor the arrangement.
  
  
• Liquidation – formally winding the company up, this will involve a liquidator being appointed to realise the assets and use any funds to discharge their costs and any surplus monies would be available to creditors (in a certain order of priority).
  
  
• Pre-pack Administrations can be used where a CVA is no longer working for the company and they are no longer in a position to continue paying the monthly contribution. They are also used when a company has attempted to secure finance or a purchaser of the assets, but due to the level of debts it carries and falling profitability, it is not viable.

Who benefits from Pre-pack administrations?

Existing employees

The key benefit of a pre-pack administration is the business or assets are sold to a pre-arranged buyer prior to the administrator being appointed.  For employees, this means their contracts are transferred over to the buyer, saving jobs and placing any claims the employees have under the buyer instead of the company.

Landlords

The landlord will normally benefit from the occupation of the leasehold premises by way of a license or may surrender the lease and grant a new one to the occupier. Not only does this allow the landlord to benefit from future rental on the property, but it also mitigates the landlord’s claim, in most cases significantly reducing it.

Customers

With a pre-pack administration, customers benefit from limited disruption as the purchaser will normally purchase the order book and work in progress on any contracts. The customer is therefore likely to receive the product or service they signed up for with minimal disruption, the choice is theirs. The purchaser will also benefit by having instant customers.

If the order book and work in progress was not purchase out of insolvency, it would be abandoned and it would be usual for customers to claim for breach of contract. The creditor’s claims

in this case would increase significantly.

Suppliers

When it comes to benefits and losses, there are more losses for suppliers when a company agrees to pre-pack administration. Not only it is uncertain whether they will or will not receive a dividend from the insolvent company, they may have also permanently lost one of their main customers and their revenues may fall as a result. The purchaser of a pre-pack may wish to start a new account, with terms to suit the supplier. Suppliers usually ask for payment up front until a relationship has been established.

Creditors

A pre-pack administration can lead to more money in the pot to share between the creditors. Whilst there is a myth that pre-pack administrations involved the sale of the business assets at a knocked-down price, this is not the case. In reality, the administrator will achieve a better understanding as the assets will be sold in-situ, an amount for intellectual property may be gained and generally book debts are easier to collect if there is continued service/supply. If assets were sold by the administrator at a knocked-down price, they would be held personally liable.

Overview

Pre-pack administrations are not for everyone. The process can be quite complex with many rules and regulations surrounding it, making it not always a viable option. However, in the right circumstances there is still a very important place for them. It is important that a pre-pack administration is only considered if the administrator believes it is the best option and will achieve the best results for the company’s creditors.

The HVAC business is one that is digitalised to a great extent whether that is managing tasks, finances or perhaps invoices.
An integral aspect of working in this business stems from the point when you pick a professional and dependable software and that decision can impact the success of your trade to quantum levels.

This software will basically act as the powerhouse of your business and to ensure you choose one that is well-equipped to satisfy the needs of your business, here we have a comprehensive guide listing in detail the many nuances of HVAC business software.

1.    Workever:

This software is supreme when it comes to efficiently managing HVAC businesses and a pro at handling your entrepreneurial affairs. Have a glance below to know of the distinct features it boasts!

• Work Schedules:

Workever has an impressive function that allows you save time and elbow grease on paperwork which is their drag-and-drop scheduler that immediately assigns specific tasks to certain crew members in a matter of seconds.
You can even create a recurrence of jobs to avoid mismanagement. This software also gives you autonomy to update job statuses and contact with field workers instantly.

Using the Field Map you can even keep track of your field crew and their respective locations to easily assign tasks to them.

• Stock and Costs:

This app has an integrated tool that makes it easy for you to manage stocks and services while its handy finance system permits you to create and send quotes to customers for jobs on-the-run!

After finishing a task, you can easily manage payments by generating invoices and effortlessly batch multi-job invoices in mere seconds instead of individually processing each payment.

• Innovative tools:

Introducing the software to IOS and Android, Workever is always working to expand and improve by integrating new and functional tools to help HVAC and other businesses flourish!

Not only does this app flaunt a contact database that saves all your customers, suppliers and contractors in an organised and professional manner but it also allows you to fill domestic and commercial compliance forms with ease.

All HVAC businesses need Workever’s swift and professional functions to not only make their entrepreneurial ventures a success but also make business management a dream.

2.    RepairShopr:

This customizable software condenses the solutions to all your business problems down to your fingertips saving you from headaches and time wastes. In its tool-kit you will find a variety of innovative and accessible functions to aid you in simplifying your business while it’s clean and easy-to-use interface makes it optimum for you to understand!

• Stay in the loop:

RepairShopr makes communication between office and field workers extremely easy and you can expertly email customers and technicians without exiting the platform.
The software also prioritises ample coordination and teamwork in order to make your business rocket to the top.

• Powerful Statistics:

This software provides powerful data to chart not only your records but also your progress. The dashboard creates a personal robust report to aid you in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your HVAC business.
It’s easy scheduling, estimating and dispatching system also eliminates all paperwork by digitalizing everything while paying clients becomes uncomplicated and effortless using their online billing and invoicing option.

RepairShopr is certainly classified amidst one of the top-tier software for HVAC businesses in management and financing areas. This is the perfect software for you if you require simple and uncomplicated features that get the job done in seconds flat.

3.    ProfitRhino:

As the name implies, this software is a professional beast when it comes to deftly managing HVAC businesses.

• HVAC flat-rate pricing:

Introducing a new and innovative method to present your quotes and pricing to your customers, ProfitRhino makes it easy to show material pricing for air-conditioning, heating and ventilation systems.
The flat-rate systems gives you a flexible margin to chalk up your cost and cover all expenses while offering a fair and honest rate to clients.

This software also ensures that your business is successful and becomes the best in the market by highlighting their maxim which is to not only take the price but also generate a heft but honest revenue from the work you provide!

If you want a good software to manage your HVAC quotes and pricing system, ProfitRhino is your best bet!

Conclusion:

Supervising a business as hectic as HVAC can be a really taxing job and more than often the piles of paperwork, debts, finances and amenities begin to take a toll on you. However using one of these excellent quality software, you can greatly ease the workload!

Take advantage of modern innovations and shift your work to digital platforms in order to quickly and efficiently handle assignments, customers and billings! Take your business to the top and remember work smarter, not harder.

It’s tempting to think that, in our highly digitalised age of marketing through websites, email and social media, distributing print catalogues would be a dead-and-buried promotional practice by now. However, certain recent developments in marketing tell a very different story.

More and more brands – even including some weaned online, like Amazon and Wayfair – have started dabbling in print catalogues. Furthermore, Harvard Business Review reports that, from 2004 to 2018, catalogue-spurred response rates soared by 170%.

Catalogues: a print novelty in a digital world

It would seem rational to assume that customers of relatively old generations are sparking the catalogue renaissance by falling back in love with the old way of doing things. However, studies from the Data & Marketing Association run counter to such a theory.

“Millennials stand out a bit higher than other generations in terms of engaging with mail,” Neil O’Keefe, the association’s senior vice president of marketing and content, told CNBC. “It’s unique to the generation that hasn’t experienced the amount of mail of past generations.”

He added: “Millennials are very engaged by imagery, and the catalogue really allows that to stand out.” He noted that catalogues attracted a “very different” response rate to display ads and emails, adding: “The response rate for a printed piece has been on the rise as of late.”

Catalogues deliver an experience, not merely advertising

“While we use online sites to search for products, the typical consumer won’t scroll past the first page of results,” Greg Portell, lead partner in the consumer and retail practice of Chicago-based management consulting firm Kearney, has pointed out.

“That creates an efficient shopping transaction but not necessarily a good experience. While not a perfect analogue, catalogues get closer to an experience.”

His observations are seemingly backed in findings of research conducted by Colorado State University’s marketing department. The study found that participating businesses combining email and catalogues in their marketing mix saw 15% better sales and 27% more inquiries compared to other businesses that resorted just to email marketing.

The same research revealed that, of the catalogue recipients who had also made product inquiries, over 90% had perused the catalogues and kept them for, on average, seven days.

Can catalogues work better for certain companies than others?

Various studies indicate that the power of a print catalogue lies in its tangibility. As it is a physical product, it is harder to ignore than an email – and, by flicking through it and seeing the products displayed within, customers can more easily visualise and imagine using them.

In essence, catalogues can help companies to portray their products more vividly. This vividness can particularly drive purchases of products intended primarily for enjoyment and pleasure rather than utilitarian purposes, but whether the latter can still benefit from the catalogue effect is debatable.

Luxury brands, therefore, could especially benefit from approaching a seller of printing technology, such as Duplo International, to source the equipment they would need to print the catalogues that could help these brands to significantly enhance their returns from marketing.

The production and manufacturing of product packaging has evolved immensely over recent years. Gone are the days where brands only had one goal in mind, which was to keep packaging costs low; as consumers in today’s world want eye-catching designs, affordable prices and the use of sustainable materials. With global brands now facing increasing pressure to focus on how their packaging is produced, it has made many experts look to the future and plan how they can adapt to consumer and industry needs.

To gain some insight into the matter, branding and creative design agency 1HQ, have launched their quarterly magazine which looks at the ‘Fourth Age of Packaging’. From sustainability to immersive interfaces, the magazine gives an in-depth look into what the future may hold for the world of packaging. To give you a better understanding of the subject, we have highlighted a number of points we find most interesting.

Adaptable attributes

Consumers will often buy a product based on the brand or the actual product itself, but could this change in the future thanks to flexible manufacturing? This process means that products can be created on the production line to suit consumer needs ahead of them reaching supermarket shelves. For example, brands could look at how their products can offer a more personal touch through the shape, size and colour of their packaging and products. Colour palettes could be selected to coordinate with home interiors and products could be specifically made to fit into difficult storage spaces within the home.

Immersive interfaces

Many brands like to include QR codes onto their packaging which has proved to be popular with consumers, but how can immersive interfaces be adapted in the future? Experts believe that through the use of immersive interfaces and smartphones, consumers will be able to access a whole new world, which will benefit both brand and consumer. This process will enable consumers to see detailed information about the product in front of them, the wider product offering from the specific brand and important details surrounding sustainability etc.

Purposeful deconstruction

In today’s world consumers want convenience, as well as using the least amount of packaging as possible. When it comes to convenience food, takeaways are often favoured; but this often brings a lot of packaging which often can’t be recycled. GreenBox wants to pave the way for change when it comes to this issue, by creating a new experience when it comes to ordering a pizza. You may find that struggle to eat the whole meal, so wrap it in tin foil or another material. Instead of this, GreenBox is creating pizza boxes which allow each leftover piece to be contained in its own recyclable cardboard box, made from the original delivery packaging.

With brands now having to carefully consider how they manufacture their products and produce their packaging, it’s important to look ahead to the future and see how the industry could potentially look. From immersive interfaces to adaptable attributes, we could see a huge shift in how packaging helps market a range of well-known products.