Retention Of Title: Who owns the goods now? With BTG and AGM

Who owns the goods? and how can they be reclaimed? These were the main questions addressed during the Sheffield & District branch’s event on the 11th February held at the Sheffield office of recently rebranded BTG, formally Begbies Traynor Group.

Following members and guests networking over refreshments, Branch Chair, Richard House, welcomed everyone and opened the meeting before handing over for the feature presentation to Isobel Callaghan, BTG’s in house Solicitor who specialises in contentious investigations and litigation matters.

Retention of Title (“ROT”) can be important recovery tools and understanding how to navigate this and how best to futureproof were the key points highlighted throughout the night. For some credit professionals and businesses who need to navigate this potential problematic area, positive strategies of how, if used correctly, ROT clauses greatly assist the recovery of goods supplied to customers who are looking, or have already entered, into an insolvency process.

A Retention of Title clause correctly drafted and incorporated into contracts of sale, usually by being placed correctly within terms and conditions of sale, could benefit potential loss making scenarios. Protecting this position was highlighted in Isobel’s discussion, giving a high-level overview of areas to be considered.

ROT is not suitable for all types of goods and Isobel explored some of these and how identification can be problematic and further looked at where the goods supplied had changed form. ROT can be a simple clause or an all-monies clause for goods supplied allowing greater leverage when dealing with insolvency practitioners. Even the addition of company branding and batch numbers on goods supplied could aid identification and further recovery potential.

Isobel’s presentation gave a real insight into how best to protect your business and some potential common pitfalls faced when trying to take back control of goods supplied. Everyone who attended appreciated the detailed presentation and left with additional knowledge and understanding of how to potentially minimise future lost revenue.

Following the departure of guests, Richard formally opened the Annual General Meeting and dealt with those formalities.

Many thanks to Isobel Callaghan of BTG, to BTG for hosting the evening in its Sheffield office and to all attending members and guests for making the evening a great success.