External Affairs update: January 2024

20 February 2024

R3’s External Affairs team kicked off 2024 with a bang, with a new project on the future of the insolvency profession, briefings on the Post Office scandal, and plans for our flagship event in full swing, as well as continued media interest in the profession and its work.

Connecting with Westminster

In the first month of the year, our Public Affairs team started work on our flagship event, the President’s Lunch, which is due to take place at the Cinnamon Club in March.

R3 President Nicky Fisher will be joined by senior members of R3, MPs and Peers in an event that aims to improve understanding of the insolvency profession and its work and provide an opportunity for discussion on key policy issues, such as the Government’s proposals to reform insolvency regulation, personal insolvency, and fraud.

With corporate insolvencies reaching a 30-year high in 2023, including several high-profile high street insolvencies involving brands like Wilko and Paperchase, the event will provide guests with a timely opportunity to provide their insights into the latest trends in the figures and the market, and how Government policy can best support the profession’s work in rescuing viable businesses.

And taking place just before the Spring Budget and in the run up to this year’s General Election, the lunch will also be an opportunity to discuss what impact these will have on UK businesses and their long-term prospects.

Briefings on the Horizon scandal

2024 has brought a new wave of public and political interest in the Post Office scandal, in which over 900 subpostmasters were wrongfully convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting.

A number of postmasters were made bankrupt as a result, and in January our Public Affairs team briefed MPs on the complexities around the potential impact on the bankruptcy orders of the original convictions being quashed, including the payment of any sums in compensation.

Mention in Scottish Parliament Committee report

Following various evidence sessions on the Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill, the Economy and Fair Work Committee published its report in January.

We were pleased to see Katie McLachlan, Personal Insolvency Practitioner and Senior Manager at Middlebrooks, mentioned in an R3 capacity the report, emphasising the importance of the regulations in setting out how the moratorium will operate.

Katie was quoted as saying: “broadly, R3 is very much in support of the Bill and the contents thereof, particularly the mental health moratorium... However, the regulations that underpin that and the mechanics of how it all works will be important with regard to the balancing of the debtor and creditor interest. The details of how the moratorium will actually work are very important to R3.”

We look forward to seeing how the Scottish Government responds to the recommendations and comments in the report, and we will keep members updated as and when they do.

Future of the insolvency profession

R3 is taking on a major new research project this year, which explores the insolvency profession's evolution since the implementation of the Insolvency Act in 1986 and seeks to understand emerging opportunities in the market, and how R3 must further adapt to thrive in the ever-changing insolvency landscape.

Before Christmas, we sent out a survey to our members that explored a variety of topics including government regulation, trends in insolvency, recruitment and retention, and the opportunities and challenges that face the profession in the next five years.

The survey closed at the end of January, and we are now analysing the data which we hope will establish a clear picture of trends and drivers across the profession and enable us to better support the profession in 2024 and beyond. Thank you to every member who completed the survey.

R3 in the media

The high media interest in the profession and its work continued last month, with the news that corporate insolvencies reached a 30-year high in 2023.

R3 President Nicky Fisher was quoted in a number of national titles commenting on the story, including the Financial Times, the Guardian, the Sun, and more, as well as a range of regional and trade publications.

As well as insolvency trends in England and Wales, R3 was also featured in stories about the Q3 corporate and personal insolvency statistics in Scotland, including the Times, Credit Connect and Caithness Business.

Media interest in local business trends also remained high with a story on a rise in start-ups in Scotland featuring in the Sun, the Times, and Scottish publications including Scottish Financial Review, Scottish Financial News and Caithness Business.

News of the appointment of Tim Sloggett as the new chair for R3 in the South West and Wales also picked up regional and trade media intention, including in stories in Business Live, the Business Desk, Bristol Business News, Insider and more.