Insolvency and restructuring profession rescued 297k jobs in 2019, R3 report shows

13 May 2021

The insolvency and restructuring profession rescued 297,000 jobs and returned £1.82bn to creditors in insolvency cases in 2019 – the equivalent of around 800 jobs and £5m a day, according to a new report from R3, the insolvency and restructuring trade body.

The report, “The value of the profession: how insolvency and restructuring supports the UK economy”, is based on responses to a survey of representatives of 71 companies from the insolvency and restructuring profession in the UK carried out by Savanta ComRes.

Of the £1.82bn members of the insolvency and restructuring profession returned to creditors in 2019, £353m was from corporate insolvency and restructuring cases, and £1.47bn from personal insolvency cases.

R3’s research also shows the profession rescued a total of 7,200 UK businesses in 2019, with nearly four out of ten (39%) businesses advised by R3 members still open after their insolvency procedure concluded.

Further findings include the discovery that the insolvency and restructuring profession advised 60,000 businesses and 144,000 individuals in 2019, with an average of £13,300 returned to creditors upon completion of each personal insolvency procedure. 

Colin Haig, R3 President and Head of Restructuring at Azets, says: “This research shows the scale of the economic contribution made by the profession – the businesses and individuals it helps, the jobs it saves, and the money it returns to creditors – which can be hard to quantify because of the nature of insolvency and restructuring cases. 

“This report shows what a contribution the profession made in a relatively calm period for the economy, but it also underlines the important role we can play in supporting businesses, individuals and the wider economy to resolve financial distress in a post-pandemic environment, and why our members are at the forefront of getting the UK back to work.”

To download a copy of R3’s report visit: https://www.r3.org.uk/press-policy-and-research/policy-research/the-insolvency-restructuring-profession/ 

ENDS

Survey Methodology

·       The research was carried out via an online survey which involved two phases of fieldwork (to account for the impact of COVID-19 on business workload and consequent survey uptake): 30th June to 9th September 2020 and 13th January to 22nd March 2021. The fieldwork process was managed by R3.

·       Summaries for the individual practice areas are based on the maximum total number of unique respondents and multiple cases; respondents were asked to answer a series of questions on at least one case from the end of 2019 (up to a maximum of five cases). As the R3 membership is assumed to be representative of companies involved in the profession, we are able to use these audiences to provide an examination of the state of the UK insolvency profession in 2019. Throughout the report, total figures are rounded to the nearest whole number or percentage. 

·       Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.