Do insolvency practitioners do turnaround?

I read a very interesting article recently highlighting this question and it may seem an odd question to ask, but do insolvency practitioners actually rescue companies, or simply put them into liquidation? Put plainly, do insolvency practitioners rescue companies? The question was posed by a well-respected rescue CEO and consultant with over twenty years in rescuing businesses. My experience is, I have to say, not good when answering this question. I have been advising large medium and small companies for over thirty four years now and rescuing a failing business is not for the faint hearted, that’s for sure. So why is the question even being asked? Well I suspect this well respected gentleman has had similar experiences to me over the last five years or so, through the heat of a recession.

Unfortunately, I do believe insolvency practitioners generally have lost the appetite and more importantly lost valuable experience in rescuing companies and have put more focus on more expedient liquidations. In the last year alone we have been contacted by around 2-3,000 company directors seeking business debt advice. The majority of directors that we have advised who had also spoken previously to competing insolvency practitioners were genuinely surprised and greatly relieved when we discussed how we may be able to rescue the company and not simply put it into company liquidation. Now, it is not possible to rescue all companies and I accept there are a lot of so called zombie companies out there, but shouldn’t we at least work from the premise of ‘how do we save this company’ rather than how quickly can we close it?   

Certainly the majority of insolvency practitioners appear driven more by regulatory and compliance matters than saving the company. I guess this is understandable when they are subject to spot checks and can lose their licence if not completing procedures thoroughly enough, but is this the real reason or a symptom of something else?

    

Over the last five years or so, since the recession, we have seen and heard of serious investment in compliance policies and procedures which has turned into an entrenched dogma creating a completely different type of insolvency practitioner to that which existed 7-10 years ago I suspect. There is something else though when you look at the increased numbers of staff. The new kids on the block don’t know anything else other than compliance, regulations and following the necessary processes and many have no first-hand experience of rescuing a company, or negotiating with creditors over business debts.

With the economy improving and the Insolvency Service cutting down in size, it may be that a downturn in insolvent liquidation cases may well be followed by a number of insolvency practitioners starting to struggle and being taken over. It may seem improbable, but there is already evidence in the market place that insolvency practitioners are trying to change their approach as they begin to struggle. The insolvency practitioners that cannot adapt to the changes will struggle to survive in a market where desperate practitioners are already pushing liquidation fees down in an attempt to reel in more business whilst their profit margins get squeezed. A note of caution here; far too many directors do not think to check the website of insolvency practitioners for genuine testimonials, or ask to speak with the insolvency practitioners' past clients. This should always be the first action that any company director should take who is thinking of engaging, or referring an insolvency practitioner.

The 'big boys' appear to have swallowed up a significant portion of the ‘company rescue’ talent, but not every SME can afford their fees and in any event, these bigger firms of insolvency practitioners will continue to ‘cherry pick’ their clients based on certain prerequisites. The average SME traditionally turns to his/her accountant for help and that is as it should be as the first port of call. Perhaps the SME accountants should check who they refer their clients through to in future more than they previously have when they want a company to be rescued?   

Back to the question: Do I think insolvency practitioners do turnaround? Well, the larger clients will probably be able to afford the big names, but the smaller companies are left to a roll of the dice as to whether someone will genuinely try and turn the business around, or simply put it into company liquidation.

 

There is a simple solution though – check the websites and how about asking to speak to past clients? 

How Insolvency Practitioners Can Help

An insolvency practitioner is necessary if you have a business that is struggling financially and you need to either liquidate it or find some way of helping it to trade on through some sort of statutory payment structure like a company voluntary arrangement.

Generally, directors will visit their accountant as their first port of call when the warning signs are apparent. Normally the accountant will admit that the advice required is outside of their area of expertise and they will automatically refer the client through to a local insolvency practitioner.

In most cases this can be the last thing that the director actually wants without even knowing it. The problem arises when the director seeks advice on how to handle the commercial or personal implications of an insolvency solution such as liquidation or a company voluntary arrangement.

Once engaged, an insolvency practitioner acts in the best interests of the creditors (people/businesses that the director's company owes money to). Naturally, the director may feel like he is getting a raw deal here as what he really wanted is someone to help him personally get out of this sticky situation with minimal complications or implication to them directly.

Unfortunately, insolvency often brings with it all manner of areas that need addressing properly and carefully and while the insolvency practitioner will make sure that the creditors interests are looked after and everything is done as it should, the director may be left feeling a bit lonely and vulnerable as they have no one guiding and protecting them personally throughout the entire process.

Director protection is where we come in. We work closely with the insolvency practitioners and the directors to make sure that successful communication between both parties and congruency is at the forefront of our work.

Creditors can sometimes get a bit aggressive and in some cases they may have good reason as they may be owed a great deal of money and directors may have neglected communication, possibly through fear of what the creditors may say. The insolvency practitioners will not be looking to step in between the directors and the creditors and Jameson Smith & Co effectively act as a barrier between the directors and the creditors controlling all communication between the two sides.

While we protect the directors it leaves the insolvency practitioners to process the insolvency documents and court procedures, communicating with us all the time so we manage the situation from start to finish.