In order to appoint a Liquidator, the Company must first be placed into Liquidation.

Liquidation is an insolvency procedure to bring the life of a company, or a limited liability partnership, to an end. This can be done either voluntarily, using a private sector insolvency practitioner, or through the courts.

A Creditors Voluntary Liquidation is an out of court procedure which uses a private Insolvency Practitioner as opposed to using the Courts and The Insolvency Service.

It is therefore a much quicker procedure, and companies can be placed into voluntary liquidation within two to three weeks.  The cost of placing a company into liquidation is broadly the same, though a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation is usually cheaper in the long run, as its running costs are less.

A CVL can also be used to organise a phoenix company, which can increase assets realisations, save jobs and increase the return to creditors overall.