When should a retiring business stop accepting new work?
- Topic
- Retirement decisions
- Reading time
- 3 minutes
- Last reviewed
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A retiring business needs a clear answer to "Can you fit this in?" If every enquiry returns to the owner for an exception, the order book can keep extending after everyone believes the wind-down has begun.
An acceptance rule should describe the work the business can still complete. A date alone is not enough. A familiar short job may need a material with a long lead time, while a larger repeat order may use stock already on the shelf.
Check the whole promise
Before agreeing new work, ask whether the business has the capacity, materials and access needed to finish it. Include inspection, delivery and any agreed follow-up. Ask who will handle a query after normal trading stops.
Check the proposed terms with the appropriate adviser where commitments are uncertain. This planning note does not cancel existing contracts or create a right to refuse work already agreed.
Write an internal rule in ordinary language. For example, a fictional workshop might consider repeat jobs only where the specification is confirmed, required material is available and completion fits before its agreed final production period. Unusual work goes to a named decision maker rather than receiving an immediate promise.
The precise rule will depend on the business. Its value is consistency: the office, owner and production planner can give the same answer.
Give exceptions a cost
An exception may be reasonable, but it should be visible. Record the extra attendance, services and equipment it requires. The worked last-order example shows why the job's margin alone can be misleading.
Ask what would move if the job overruns. Would equipment have to remain in place? Would a premises task be delayed? Would someone be expected to return after their agreed final day? If nobody can answer, the business has not established that the job fits.
Avoid using an optimistic completion date to make a difficult promise appear manageable. Have the person responsible for the work check the assumption.
Make the rule usable at the enquiry desk
Keep a short response ready for work outside the current scope. It can explain that the business is winding down and cannot commit until it has checked the request. Do not imply an alternative supplier has agreed to help unless that is true.
Review open quotations as well as new enquiries. A customer may reasonably be working from an offer sent before the retirement decision. Include these in the commitment inventory and obtain advice on the actual terms where needed.
The acceptance rule should support the separate trading and retirement dates. Once final work is sufficiently clear, share the resulting equipment release assumptions with UK Auction Group. A stable order boundary gives the sale conversation something firmer than "we should be finished by then".
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This guide is general information and education only. Legal, tax, employment and safety decisions may need a qualified adviser who knows your situation. Read the disclaimer.