Insolvency, Restructuring & Winding-Up
When a company is in distress, the disputes come quickly and on short timetables — a statutory demand, a winding-up petition, a proposed scheme, a fight over who controls the process. We act for creditors and for companies, and we act fast, because in insolvency the calendar is unforgiving.
Winding-up and bankruptcy, schemes of arrangement, judicial management and the contested applications between creditors and companies in distress.
What we handle
- Winding-up petitions and opposition (Companies Act 2016, ss.465–466)
- Statutory demands and setting them aside
- Bankruptcy proceedings — creditors’ petitions and debtor opposition
- Schemes of arrangement and restraining orders (s.366, s.368)
- Judicial management applications and opposition
- Recovery and claw-back — undervalue transactions and preferences
Our approach to a insolvency & restructuring matter
Establish standing and grounds
Whether you are pressing or resisting, the first question is standing and the statutory ground — a debt not genuinely disputed, an inability to pay, a defect in the demand. We settle that before filing.
Move on the timetable
Insolvency runs on statutory clocks — the 21-day statutory demand, the return date, the scheme meeting. Missing one can be fatal. We diarise and drive the timetable.
Contest the control
Restraining orders, judicial management and schemes are often really contests over who controls the company’s future. We advance or resist them with that in mind.
Recover value
For creditors and liquidators, recovery may lie in claw-back claims — transactions at an undervalue, unfair preferences — which we pursue as ordinary litigation.
Insolvency & Restructuring: the questions we are asked
We were served a statutory demand. What now?
A statutory demand is serious: if not satisfied or set aside within the prescribed period, it can found a winding-up or bankruptcy application. If the debt is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds, or is subject to a cross-claim, it can often be set aside — but the window is short. Contact us immediately.
Can a winding-up petition be stopped?
A petition may be opposed, and in an appropriate case restrained, where the debt is bona fide disputed on substantial grounds or the petition is an abuse of process. Timing and evidence are everything. We assess the position quickly and, where warranted, apply to strike out or stay.
What is a scheme of arrangement?
A scheme under s.366 of the Companies Act 2016 is a court-supervised compromise between a company and its creditors or members, often accompanied by a restraining order under s.368 that holds off proceedings while the scheme is arranged. We act both for companies proposing schemes and for creditors scrutinising them.