Avison Young has received court authorisation to clear all outstanding obligations to HMRC, with a winding-up petition against the firm relating to an unpaid tax bill expected to be formally removed imminently.
Avison Young said it had been in dialogue with HRMC regarding its outstanding liability
Last month, HMRC filed a winding-up petition against several group companies, including Avison Young (UK), Avison Young Holdings, Avison Young Workplace, Avison Young Project Management and Avison Young Real Estate Finance.
Avison Young said at the time that it expected to quickly resolve the unpaid tax issue.
In a more recent statement, the commercial real estate agency said the remaining steps to have the petition formally resolved were “purely administrative” and are “expected to conclude imminently”.
The company said in a statement: “Prior to the legal action being taken, our finance team had been in regular dialogue with HMRC regarding the outstanding liability. We had initiated payment dates which we understood to be acceptable to HMRC and expected those discussions to continue. The decision to initiate legal proceedings therefore came as a surprise.
“Although HMRC initiated legal proceedings, it neither served the order nor disputed our application to have it set aside once payment had been made.”
Avison Young added that the UK business had performed in line with budget for H1 and delivered positive year-on-year growth in revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
“We are building on this momentum, pursuing growth across our service lines and remaining firmly focused on delivering high-quality, differentiated service for our clients,” a spokesperson added.
In its latest accounts, for the full year 2024, the firm’s UK and European arm posted a pre-tax loss of £101.8m, mirroring a similar loss for 2023. AY recorded a £84.6m operating loss in 2024 and has cut its workspace team by around 300 over a two-year period following the restructuring of several departments.
The company, which has around 1,400 staff in 11 UK offices, ranked seventh in Property Week’s recent analysis of the UK’s biggest commercial real estate agencies.
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