Restructuring and Insolvency

Understanding how to survive the downturn

Businesses facing insolvency need to adopt a different mindset to that which is necessary for success in a better business climate.

It is recognised in business circles that successful managers in a benign business environment do not necessarily have all the skills and/or experience to steer a business through a period of financial/economic difficulty.

Different priorities apply when short term survival is the immediate objective. Concentrating on issues that seem relevant for the medium to long term success of the business may well distract managers from concentrating on those issues that threaten the existence of the business in the short term. Understanding this and seeking expert advice at an early stage is often the difference between survival and business failure.

Our team

We have three dedicated corporate recovery and insolvency teams based in Bristol, Birmingham and Southampton. The team's five Partners have in excess of 60 years' corporate recovery and insolvency experience between them and lead a team that includes a further 7 solicitors. The teams are recognised as leading practices within their respective regions.

The team understands the pressures and business priorities in distressed business situations and is committed to providing general commercial business advice to business people rather than simply legal advice.

The team acts for companies and individuals in financial difficulty, banks and other stake holders as well as for many firms of both national and regional insolvency practitioners, advising on business rescue options, business sales and purchases, all forms of insolvency appointment (dealing with appointment issues, preserving and realising assets, advising on creditor's claims and other commercial/administrative issues). In addition to the core team of insolvency specialists, further support is available from dedicated fee earners within other departments when specialist non-insolvency expertise is required.

Contact: Martin Askew, Matthew Barker, Maz Rahmati, Stephanie Slinn or Philip Winterborne.