From the ashes

Shona Campbell CA welcomes the record turnout for this year’s Insolvency and Restructuring Conference – and explains why the current economic climate ensures there is much to discuss

Words: Fiona Nicolson

The annual ICAS Insolvency and Restructuring Conference, sponsored by industrial auctioneers, Sweeney Kincaid, took place in September, drawing more attendees than ever before. This year more than 350 insolvency professionals signed up for the event, which was held online. 

A wide range of speakers shared their knowledge and expertise over two days, covering topics such as legal updates, findings from ICAS monitoring visits and a panel discussion on the direction of personal insolvency. A host of major firms and organisations fielded speakers and the event was chaired by Shona Campbell CA, Convenor of the Insolvency Committee at ICAS and a partner at Henderson Loggie, where she leads the business recovery and insolvency team.

This year’s main innovation, following feedback from last year’s event, was the introduction of sectoral discussions and case studies. The sectors chosen for analysis were retail, construction, agriculture, aquaculture and care homes. “Including case studies this year was useful for sharing the practical issues encountered in insolvency,” says Campbell. 

One of these issues – and one of the main takeaways from the conference – was the importance of good communication for insolvency practitioners. “A lot of the work involved requires communication with stakeholders,” says Campbell.

“For instance, in the care sector, you have to be able to communicate with residents and their families. In the construction case study discussed, the stakeholders included people who had paid deposits for homes they thought they were moving into, and people who had recently bought a new-build property that had snagging issues. All of the businesses in the case studies we covered had employees.”   

Campbell accepts this side of the job may be a new experience for those who have more recently begun working within the insolvency and restructuring profession: “During Covid, the number of insolvencies dropped because of the level of government support that was available. There was therefore a period when there weren’t very many insolvencies. And in the type of insolvencies arising, the businesses had effectively already ceased trading, the employees had already been made redundant and there were no real assets. 

“In recent years, though, we’ve been seeing more traditional insolvencies, where there are assets, employees and customers. But some of the junior staff who started work in the past four or five years don’t have that experience of going out on site and having the conversations that these insolvencies require.”

And the volume shows no signs of abating, notes Campbell: “Last year we saw the highest level of insolvencies since 1993 across the UK. So far, the average monthly numbers are in line with those of 2023, so we’re still at a peak.”   

Change on the way

Looking ahead, she says: “There are numerous challenges facing businesses at the moment. However, while there is distress, and there will be insolvencies, there are also a lot of people around who have money, or access to money, and want to spend it. So there are buyers who can give these businesses a new lease of life.”

Another key feature of the conference was the personal insolvency panel session, which focused on consultations – under way in both Scotland and England and Wales – about the process and whether it should change.

“These consultations are separate but are looking at many of the same issues,” explains Campbell. “So this raised questions about whether there was collaboration, which there is, but there will also be some differences.” Representatives from the Insolvency Service in England and Wales and the independent lead of the review of the Scottish Statutory Debt Solutions attended the session to answer questions.

One of the other important areas covered was the monitoring and review of insolvency practitioners’ work.

“In our session on monitoring, Robert Mudge, Executive Director of Regulation at ICAS, talked to us about what’s involved,” says Campbell. “It can be quite a scary process to have the regulator come in and look at your files, and obviously if they find issues, it could have serious repercussions.

“It was therefore reassuring to hear Robert emphasise that, as the regulator, ICAS wants to help insolvency practitioners do the best job possible – and that monitoring and review is not about trying to catch them out. It was also useful to hear about some of the most common issues that ICAS tends to come across during the process.”

Campbell concludes by looking to the future: “I’d like to thank everyone who presented this year. For some of the speakers, it was their first time, but every presenter was excellent. We appreciate that people are willing to take time out of their busy working lives to prepare a presentation with great content and to deliver it so well. If anyone else would be interested in presenting at next year’s conference, please get in touch with suggested topics.”

For more ICAS resources for practitioners, visit Evolve