Insolvency & Restructuring

Jonathan Lea Network advises companies, directors, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, guarantors, investors and insolvency practitioners on restructuring, insolvency and business distress across England and Wales. We advise directors long before a formal process is on the table, act for companies facing statutory demands and winding-up petitions, bring and defend claims arising out of administration and liquidation, support insolvency practitioners on recovery work, and advise buyers acquiring businesses and assets out of insolvency. We act for both claimants and defendants, with a practical focus on protecting your position, preserving value and reaching a commercially sensible outcome.

Take advice early and you will have more options, not fewer

Most people who reach this page have not decided to put a company into an insolvency process. They are worried about one.

A large customer has gone quiet. HMRC is chasing. A supplier has issued a statutory demand, or a liquidator has written asking about a payment made two years ago.

At JLN, we do not treat financial distress as a one-way route to liquidation. We treat it as a business problem with a legal dimension, and the earlier we are involved, the more of the problem is still solvable. A good proportion of the work we do at this stage ends with the company still trading, on a time-to-pay arrangement, a refinancing, a renegotiated contract or a properly documented decision to carry on.

Where a formal process is the right answer, we will say so, help you take it in an orderly way and work alongside an appropriate insolvency practitioner. Where a claim has already been made against you, we will tell you honestly how strong it is before you spend money defending it.

You will receive clear advice on merits, risk, cost and strategy before any significant step is taken.

Speak to our restructuring and insolvency team for clear advice on your options, risks, costs and next steps.

What does restructuring and insolvency advice cover?

Restructuring and insolvency advice covers the legal issues that arise when a company cannot pay its debts, may be unable to pay them in the near future, or has already entered a formal insolvency process. It covers the decisions directors take while the company is still trading, the steps creditors take to recover money, the claims an office holder brings once an appointment has been made, and the sale of businesses and assets out of insolvency.

Much of this work happens before any formal process starts. A director may need to know whether a particular payment is safe to make. A company may need to respond to a winding-up threat within days. A supplier may need to know whether it can recover its goods. A shareholder may be selling a business and need to understand how the buyer intends to fund the price.

Work also arises long after a company has gone. An administrator or liquidator investigates what happened in the months before the appointment, and claims can follow years later, including from specialist funders who have bought those claims from the estate.

Where are you in the situation?

Every matter is different. The right approach depends on the stage you have reached, the urgency, the strength of your position and the outcome you want. The table below is designed to help you identify where you are and how we will help you take the next step.

If you are not sure which of these describes your position, we will help you work it out. Contact us for an initial, no-obligation discussion or email wewillhelp@jonathanlea.net.

Who we advise

Directors and companies in financial difficulty. You are trading through a difficult period and need to know what you can and cannot do, whether the company can keep going, and how to protect yourself if it cannot.

Companies facing creditor action. You have received a statutory demand or a winding-up petition, or a creditor is threatening one. The deadlines are short and the consequences begin before any hearing.

Directors facing claims. A liquidator, administrator or claims purchaser has written to you, or the Insolvency Service has opened an investigation. You need to know how serious it is before you reply.

Insolvency practitioners and office holders. You need prompt, proportionate legal support on investigations, recovery claims and litigation strategy, with reporting you can pass to creditors without rewriting it.

Creditors, suppliers and lenders. You are owed money, hold goods supplied under retention of title, or need to enforce security or a guarantee against a business in difficulty.

Buyers of distressed businesses and assets. You want to acquire a business out of an insolvency process, usually on a timetable set by how long the business can survive.

Shareholders and investors. Financial distress has changed the commercial dynamic, and disputes about funding, control, loans or asset transfers have followed.

When should you take advice?

Sooner than most people do. The usual signs that it is time for a conversation:

• cash tightening month on month, or a forecast you no longer believe
• creditors chasing harder, or one creditor threatening a statutory demand
• HMRC arrears, a broken time-to-pay arrangement or a missed PAYE or VAT payment
• the loss of a major customer, or a key contract renewed on much worse terms
• a covenant breach, a facility withdrawn, or a refinancing that will not complete
• directors funding the company personally or deferring their own pay
• a letter from an administrator, liquidator or the Insolvency Service
• a demand under a personal guarantee

Taking advice does not commit you to anything. In many cases its value lies in avoiding a much more expensive problem later, by assessing risk clearly, correcting a procedural issue in time and making sure that important decisions are properly recorded.

Our Restructuring & Insolvency Services

(In alphabetical order)

Buying Businesses & Assets from Insolvency

Director Disqualification

Director Misfeasance & Insolvency Claims

Directors & Companies in Financial Distress

Insolvency Litigation & Asset Recovery

Insolvency Practitioner Legal Services

Personal Guarantees & Director Liability

Statutory Demands & Winding-Up Petitions

The Zone of Insolvency

Transactions at an Undervalue & Preferences

Where a company is solvent and the objective is a reorganisation rather than a rescue, our corporate team advises on Corporate Restructuring & Reorganisation, including capital reductions, demergers, share buybacks, solvent schemes of arrangement and hive-up and hive-down asset transfers.

What are the main risks if this is handled badly?

For directors, the risk is personal. Continuing to trade without testing the position, paying one creditor ahead of others, repaying a loan account or extracting value at the wrong moment can all be unwound later, and several of them can lead to a personal claim or a disqualification investigation. Reliance on somebody else’s advice helps only so far, particularly where the risk should have been obvious and the director was the one who benefited.

For companies, a winding-up petition is the sharpest risk. Before any final hearing it can freeze banking arrangements, alarm suppliers and make a rescue much harder. Where the debt is genuinely disputed, urgent advice may be needed to stop the petition being presented or advertised.

For creditors and office holders, the risks are proportionality, evidence and recoverability. A claim can look strong in principle and still be commercially unattractive if the defendant has limited assets, the documents are incomplete or the costs will outrun the recovery.

For buyers, the risk is what you cannot see. Limited warranties, a compressed timetable and restricted diligence mean the exercise is about knowing which risks can be priced and which cannot.

Why choose JLN

Advice before the crisis, not only after it. We are as comfortable advising a board that is still trading as we are defending a claim three years later, and the first conversation is usually the cheaper one.

Commercially focused and proportionate. We will tell you when a claim is not worth running, when a petition should be settled rather than fought, and when the right answer is a formal process rather than more legal fees.

Clear guidance from the outset. You will get straight advice on merits, risk, cost and next steps before you commit to any major decision.

Responsive in urgent situations. Petition deadlines, advertisement dates and hearing dates do not move. Where a matter needs immediate action, we will act within days.

Joined up with the rest of the firm. Financial distress rarely stays in one box. It generates shareholder disputes, employment issues, property questions, guarantee claims and distressed transactions, all of which we handle in-house.

We work alongside insolvency practitioners, not instead of them. Where a formal appointment is the right answer, we will introduce you to a practitioner suited to the business and keep the legal and commercial strategy aligned.

How we can help

If you are unsure how serious your position is, we will help you assess it, understand your options and decide on the most effective next step. Contact us with a brief summary of the situation and any key documents or deadlines.

We provide most enquiries with an indicative scope of work and fee estimate, based on the information you share. We aim to respond within one working day.

In the same email, you will be invited to arrange a 20-minute complimentary, no-obligation video consultation, should the proposed scope of work and fee estimate be of interest. This initial discussion is designed to help us better understand your requirements, refine the scope of work and ensure our approach is fully aligned with your objectives.Following the call, we will email you a definitive, formal fee estimate for you to consider and approve.

Where you would prefer to receive initial advice and guidance from the outset, or where a short introductory call would not be the most appropriate starting point, we may instead recommend a 2.5-hour fixed-fee appointment, starting from £750 + VAT. This enables us to review the information you provide, discuss your situation with you and provide considered, tailored advice at an early stage.

To make an enquiry, please email us at wewillhelp@jonathanlea.net, complete our contact form, or call us on 01444 708640.