R3 Member Spotlight: Georgina Rones

20 June 2024

Georgina is an Insolvency Administrator with ThorntonRones based in Loughton. She passed the corporate element of the JIEB exams in March 2024 and was recognised as the youngest person on record to do so. With this, Georgina became the first person born this century to pass and is now eligible to apply for a licence to accept any corporate appointment under the Insolvency Act.

We ask Georgina about her decisions to sit the JIEB and her perspective on the future of the profession.

 What made you decide to pursue a career in insolvency and restructuring?

ThorntonRones was established by my parents in 1999 in the same town that we live, when my mum was pregnant with me. So, ever since I can remember, I have been going to the office fulfilling various roles from inspecting the biscuit tin to eventually working during school holidays for extra spending money, to junior staff roles such as creditor circulars and drafting standard documents. This continued during the longer university holidays. As I learned more about the profession and was able to contribute to the more day-to-day work of cases, I found that I really enjoyed the work. Unfortunately, my university time was affected by the COVID Pandemic meaning that my university was closed for an extended period of time and so I decided to study toward, sit and successfully pass the CPI exam in the year following graduation.  

At this point, having looked around at various career options I realised that nothing else sparked my interest like insolvency did. I enjoyed the fact that everyday was different and that I got to know a variety of different businesses and individuals along the way. I applied for a job at ThorntonRones and having successfully passed an in-depth interview with my parents, during which some probing questions about my past were raised, I was offered a full-time position after completing my degree….so far so good!

Having successfully passed the corporate element of the JIEB exam, do you have any advice for those considering sitting in future?

This is a difficult question because everyone knows that it is a difficult exam. Working hard is a necessity, but my top tip would be to do as many past questions as you can find. From speaking to my peers and from my own experience of the JIEB exam and mock papers, obviously you have to know the subject matter thoroughly, but recognising what the question is “getting at” is also important. I found that the more I familiarised myself with questions, how they are asked and what the examining board were expecting as a response, the less scary they became.

Since becoming an R3 member in 2023, which aspects of membership have you found most beneficial?

I have attended the last couple of new professional forums held by R3 which are great fun and allow you to meet other young people in the profession. I feel that it is important to build relationships with others in and around the profession that will help me and my client in the future. Sharing experiences and knowledge benefits everyone.

I have also recently attended the London & South East technical breakfast meetings, member webinars, in addition to reading the technical updates issued by R3. I have been impressed by the amount of output available to members, in many different formats – there is something for everyone!

What is the most rewarding aspect of your current role?

The most rewarding aspect of my role is feeling like you have helped people. This takes many and varied forms. Whether it be a creditor who has questions or one we are able to pay a dividend to from an insolvency process, a director who is suffering from the stress of not knowing what to do, or advising employees who have just lost their jobs without notice. In general terms, it is the problem solving/solution finding aspect to any given scenario and that recognition by the recipient of that advice, that is the most rewarding aspect of my work.

What do you consider as the biggest challenge for the insolvency and recovery profession in the future?

In general, from what I hear, regulation has increased. I know that the Insolvency profession is not the only one to be affected by this, but we must ensure that the necessary protections are put in place but at the optimum level so that we can return a benefit to creditors. UK Plc also needs to attract business to our shores. I am aware that we therefore need to manage the perception and reality that the UK is a safe location to do business compared to elsewhere in the world.

In general, I think that we do a good job of this in the UK, but it is not publicised enough. The press seems to be more interested in “bad stories” rather than “successful” ones and, as a profession, I think that we need to do more in this respect.

What is next for you?

To be honest, I am not sure!

I plan to sit the personal JIEB paper later this year so that I am able to advise both companies and individuals. My goals for the immediate future are to expand my experience and focus growing my contact network. Having said that, my main goal this year, having recently taken up golf, is to be an 18 handicap before the end of the year – I am less confident of this than anything I have done so far!!!