With a diverse roster of clients spanning large clearing banks, alternative lenders, regulators, and corporates, Burges Salmon LLP‘s corporate restructuring and insolvency team is well equipped to advise on national and international administrations, enforcements, and the related transactions. Andrew Eaton heads up the team and has substantial experience in cross-border distressed situations. Colin Ligman is particularly experienced in distressed real estate work, with James Sutherland specialising in real estate and insolvency disputes. Clive Pugh is well versed in pension-related issues, drawing on former experience at the pensions regulator, while Emily Scaife and Nick Middleton are other integral team members.

With specialist knowledge of the financial services sector, Foot Anstey‘s ‘extremely knowledgeable’ insolvency and restructuring practice is a key port of call for special administrations, acting for investment banks and credit unions, boards of directors, and companies. More broadly, the team excels across the charity and adult education sectors, where it has been active on a number of wrongful trading matters. Joanne Rumley, praised as a ‘stand-out restructuring lawyer in the region’, leads the team and is highly regarded for advising boards on turnaround and distressed company trading issues. Tim Pritchard handles corporate insolvency, restructuring, rescue and turnaround mandates, while senior associate Lydia Lloyd is noted for her non-contentious expertise in pre-pack administrations and administration sales.

Osborne Clarke LLP has a strong track record in large restructuring and insolvency mandates, with particular experience acting on sizeable pension restructurings. Clearing and challenger bank work also makes up a core part of the practice, with the team regularly assisting lenders in cases of distressed borrowers. Based in Bristol, Nigel Boobier has experience handling a range of cross-border mandates, while Claire Bundy handles contentious and non-contentious restructuring and insolvency procedures, acting for a range of creditors, insolvency practitioners, corporates, trustees and directors. Pension team head Jonathan Hazlett, business transactions group head Mark Wesker and banking lead Tom Bussy are other key members of the team.

With a base in Bristol, TLT‘s team provides ‘excellent legal and commercial advice’ across the restructuring and insolvency space, acting for a diverse set of financial institutions, corporates, insolvency practitioners and public sector clients. The practice enjoys a strong reputation for acting on restructurings and insolvent issues in the renewable energy and retail sectors, with further expertise in loan portfolio transactions relating to bank deleveraging. The practice is led by James Forsyth, with non-contentious restructuring expert Peter Carney another well-known name, particularly for international banking work. Abigail Hadfield advises lenders on security and enforcement strategies, while Tom Ward focuses on loan portfolio transactions and structured finance work. Richard Clark is also noted.

Counting the manufacturing, renewables, retail and construction industries among its areas of sector expertise, Ashfords LLP has extensive experience advising on contentious and non-contentious corporate and personal insolvency and restructuring matters. While transactional work and insolvency litigation make up core pillars of the practice, the team, which is spread across Bristol and Exeter, also has experience extending to compliance issues regarding director’s duties, property insolvency MVLs, mandates for local authorities, and cross-border work. Team leader David Pomeroy is ‘an excellent lawyer with a commercial approach to matters’. Praised by clients for her ‘knowledge, practical advice and responsiveness’, Melissa George excels in restructuring and advisory work, including turnarounds and corporate transactions. Nicola Brastock and Holly Ransley further strengthen the team.

Clarke Willmott LLP is especially active in advising on breach of duty claims against directors, employee benefit trusts matters, and civil recovery claims. The team also has experience assisting liquidators and corporates with insolvencies, including asset transfers. Martin Askew and Ken MacLennan jointly lead the team from the firm’s Bristol office; Askew is adept at insolvency litigation and misfeasance-related claims, while MacLennan has experience handling complex pre-packs, CVAs, and restructuring plans. Ruth Hartnell-Thorne brings further experience in contentious insolvency mandates, where she often pursues claims on behalf of officeholders. Senior associates Stephanie Hambridge and Sonal Crocker are also noted, as is associate John Mackinnon.

With a roster of clients consisting of corporates, lenders, public sector groups, and insolvency practitioners, DAC Beachcroft LLP covers a wide range of restructuring and insolvency mandates, and has considerable cross-border experience with cases involving entities from France, Spain, the US and Hong Kong. Head of the corporate recovery and insolvency team Giles Hindle covers a range of insolvency appointments, asset realisations, security issues, and company disposals, bringing a ‘very commercial angle to his approach’. Kevin Hawthorn handles both contentious and non-contentious work, while legal director Chris Stoate specialises in company law and governance as well as administration cases.

Charles Russell Speechlys LLP is especially skilled in high-value insolvency and distressed litigation mandates, and the practice also has a strong track record in acting for insolvency practitioners on transactions and security documentation reviews. The Cheltenham-based team is led by ‘exceptional litigator’ Daniel Moore, who has ‘an astute eye for tactical considerations and thinks deeply and creatively about the legal issues in a case’. Moore also has experience across a range of non-contentious transactional matters.

Harrison Clark Rickerbys advises on a range of contentious and non-contentious restructuring and insolvency mandates with work arising from administrations, liquidations, and bankruptcies. Following the departure of former head Robin Koolhoven in late 2023 to Stephens Scown LLP, Paul Grundy now leads the South West team from Cheltenham. Grundy is particularly experienced in Insolvency Act litigation, acting for both corporates and individuals. Also central to the practice is senior associate Deanne Hamilton, who handles investigations into antecedent transactions and winding up petitions.

Keystone Law‘s practice advises a range of office holders, companies, lenders, and creditors across the restructuring and insolvency space. The team counts transactional, contentious, and advisory matters among its areas of expertise, with sector breadth ranging from the construction to retail industries. In the South West, Stephen Young is recommended for his wide-reaching expertise that includes matters with cross-border aspects.

Providing ‘first-class’ advice, Stephens Scown LLP assists with an array of restructuring and insolvency mandates, both contentious and non-contentious in nature. The team has experience handling director conduct investigations on behalf of administrators and liquidators, pre-pack deals and shareholder disputes, and provides advice to boards of directors on their responsibilities when facing financial issues. Andrew Knox, who specialises in wrongful trading and partnership insolvencies, chairs the team from Exeter. In Truro, Toby Claridge covers minority shareholder disputes and winding up matters, while Taunton-based recent hire Robin Koolhoven regularly advises on issues arising from cashflow stresses and creditor duties. Sean Jenner is also of note.

Thrings LLP‘s business restructuring and insolvency practice has particularly strong sector expertise in the professional services, agriculture, real estate, and construction spaces. The team advises on a multitude of transactions, including sales and purchases of distressed companies, and solvent restructuring mandates, in addition to security issues, asset recoveries, and enforcement work. Mark Cullingford leads the team from Bristol, with expertise covering a wide span of matters including contingency planning and formal insolvencies. He is supported by Jane Henderson.

‘Knowledgeable, professional and quick to respond‘, the restructuring and insolvency team at Trowers & Hamlins LLP assists insolvency practitioners, lenders, creditors and individuals with mandates ranging from insolvency litigation to transactional work. Katie Farmer leads the Exeter practice and is praised for being ‘extremely experienced, pragmatic and approachable’.  In the same office, Emma Barnfield, who sits within the real estate litigation team, brings expertise in property-related insolvencies.

Specialising in charity and independent school insolvency issues, VWV is well suited to assist a range of insolvency practitioners, individuals, businesses, and organisations with corporate and personal insolvency issues. Recently, the firm has seen a number of high-value cases relating to antecedent transactions and breach of director duty claims, in addition to cases of potential personal liability. Based in Bristol, Ed Husband leads the insolvency and restructuring team, alongside the commercial litigation team. Having joined in 2023, insolvency litigation expert Lisa Cooke brings additional experience representing office holders looking to bring claims.

Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP remains an active player in the restructuring and insolvency space, backed by a strong track record in litigation, restructuring, and energy insolvency work. With experience covering distressed law firm mandates and cross-border insolvencies, Alan Bennett heads up the Bristol team, and also leads the firm’s national asset recovery team. He is supported by disputes expert Stephen Dilley in Bristol alongside real estate expert Craig Moore in Plymouth. On the energy side, Christopher Towner is a key contact.