Geektastic:

 

It would be very difficult. First the lenders, landlords, suppliers etc have to be told they are taking a 100% haircut because the only way that this works is to completely write off the debt. Why would the business owner saddle themselves with huge debt when they can simply wind up the company?

 

The knock on would be vast - you forgive Company A their debts to Companies B and C. B and C then run out of cashflow, and do the same as A - meaning D and E then have to do the same because B & C are not paying them. Etc.

 

That's the thing, I'm not sure how it would work legally - it'd have to me more of a suspension of credit terms. Whether you'd be able to file to claim the balance of a previous year's income less the costs you would have otherwise incurred had business continued... It all gets a bit weird at that point. 

I mean it's something you'd use very rarely, and under normal circumstances you'd question the need for it. But there is a very real chance we will need to do something similar in the next few months, and the status quo of "people still being expected to cover most overheads with zero income at the top for almost a month" just isn't something you realistically ever plan for when it comes to cashflow, and not something businesses can handle twice in quick succession.