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Restructuring and turnarounds

Resources to help you steer your business through restructuring or insolvency interventions.
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Introduction to restructuring, insolvency and turnarounds

Insolvency at a glance
  • Helpsheets and support
As part of its guidance to businesses on the different stages of recovery, ICAEW provides an overview of what the term insolvency means in reality for companies, the roles of the Official Receiver and Insolvency Practitioners and the different types of creditors.
Seven stages of business recovery
  • Helpsheets and support
The first step for any organisation in avoiding succumbing to finance difficulties is awareness. Here ICAEW outlines the seven stages of business recovery, which follow the decline and recovery curve.
Six signs that a business is in distress
  • Helpsheets and support
Business can avoid insolvency by taking action before its too late, here ICAEW outlines the six warning signs that a firm is in financial distress and needs to implement recovery measures.
What is an IP?
  • Helpsheets and support
An Insolvency Practitioner is someone who is licensed and authorised to act in relation to an insolvent individual, partnership or company.
Corporate insolvency measures
  • Helpsheets and support
Definitions of four examples of measures that are frequently implemented in cases of corporate insolvency, from ICAEW's guidance on business recovery.
Avoiding insolvency: advice for directors
  • Article
There are several warning signs that a business may be in distress. Fortunately seeking help early from insolvency experts and understanding insolvency law and recent changes to it can help to avoid business failure.

Latest on restructuring and turnarounds

Do you have what it takes to be an Insolvency Practitioner?
  • Article
  • 26 Feb 2024
With insolvencies on the rise – a situation unlikely to change in the near future – upskilling yourself to meet burgeoning market demand for insolvency expertise could be a smart career move.
Tax news in brief 17 January 2024
  • Article
  • 16 Jan 2024
Highlights from the broader tax news for the week ending 17 January 2024, including: more on the Customs Declaration Service; an update for insolvency practitioners on the VAT deregistration process; a reminder for taxpayers to use the HMRC app to find employment information; and the publication of further pillar two guidance.
Tax news in brief 3 January 2024
  • Article
  • 02 Jan 2024
Highlights from the broader tax news for the three weeks ending 3 January 2024, including: Budget date; council tax changes for Scotland; and plastic packaging tax g-Form for insolvency practitioners.
HMRC ceases providing tax clearance for members’ voluntary liquidations
  • Article
  • 08 Dec 2023
Clearance service withdrawn with immediate effect. This includes requests already received by HMRC that have not been responded to.
Tax news in brief 11 October 2023
  • Article
  • 11 Oct 2023
Highlights from the broader tax news for the week ending 11 October 2023, including: VAT helpline survey for insolvency practitioners; VAT treatment of drugs and medicines; and a platform change for HMRC’s CEST tool.
Updated Statement of Insolvency Practice 3.3 Scotland (Trust Deeds)
  • Article
  • 27 Sep 2023
A revised SIP 3.3 relating to trust deeds has been issued. It was approved by the Joint Insolvency Committee and each of the recognised professional bodies following consultation with the profession and wider sector stakeholders. The main changes in the revised SIP 3.3 relate to the principles, key compliance standards and standards of specific applications being, as far as practicable, aligned with the recently revised SIP 3.1 relating to individual voluntary arrangements taking account of Scots law, trust deed procedures, appropriate terminology, etc.
Read more

Webinars and recordings

How to bring a business back from the brink
  • Podcast
  • 31 Aug 2022
In this Insights In Focus episode, we explore the multifaceted role of the insolvency professional by hearing from both practitioner and client.
The BEIS White Paper – how do we measure audit quality?
  • Podcast
  • 05 Jul 2021
High profile frauds and corporate failures has put the spotlight on auditors. Regulators have questioned the quality of audits and the lack of competition in the audit market, leading to some of the more contentious elements of the BEIS whitepaper. What’s the right approach?
Tax year end, Bounce Back Loans and cryptocurrency
  • Podcast
  • 23 Jun 2021
ICAEW’s Philippa Kelly and Lindsey Wicks and PwC’s Mike Jervis join host Tom Herbert to discuss the potential moving of tax year end, Bounce Back Loan repayment options, business restructuring and cryptocurrency.
Exclusive Demystifying restructuring processes in retail and hospitality
  • Webinar
  • 20 Jun 2020
This webinar looked at restructuring and administration processes commonly seen in the retail and hospitality sectors, and consider what businesses can do if they have concerns about their long-term viability or that of their key customers and suppliers.
More webinars

Join the Restructuring & Insolvency Community

Providing guidance, support and representation to insolvency practitioners. Membership is open to everyone, including non-ICAEW members, and is free for ICAEW members, ICAEW licenced Insolvency Practitioners, ACA Students, JIEB Students and ICAEW’s Certificate in Insolvency Students.
Find out more
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Case studies

How to rescue a heritage business
  • Article
When a historic building crumbles, statutory conservation bodies rush to the rescue. When a heritage business – operated within an historic building – declines, who steps into the void? Stephen Clarke FCA does.
The painful reality of a CVA
  • Article
Managing director of Perfection Alloys, Fraser Dick, speaks about how hard decisions and empathy from his insolvency practitioner helped his business successfully weather insolvency.
Timeliness is everything
  • Article
When restructuring a company in distress, early specialist engagement is vital says Ryan Grant, Partner in BDO and an Insolvency Practitioner.
Restructuring success story
  • Webinar
Watch the real-life success story of how a UK manufacturing business was turned around after recruiting the support of an ICAEW Insolvency Practitioner.

Business press

The Library provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.
Exclusive How to succeed in volatile times
  • Article
  • 01 Mar 2024
  • Karen Harris, Austin Kimson, Dunigan O'Keeffe
The case study of the Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B and its quick reaction to the pandemic is used as an example of how to adapt fast. We've now entered a new era, say the authors: a time of post-globalization, capital rationalization, spatial dispersion, shrinking workforces, and dependence on automation. They suggest a three-part strategy approach for this time of volatility, integrating capabilities for prediction, adaptability and resilience. Companies should map exposures, develop scenarios, allocate capital and track signals.
Exclusive UK insolvencies jump 14% in 2023 after interest rates surge
  • Article
  • 16 Jan 2024
  • Tom Rees
The number of UK companies suffering insolvency jumped 14% in 2023 as firms collapsed under the weight of higher borrowing costs and weaker economic growth. The article gives an overview of the factors involved and the sectors most affected.
Exclusive Who learns fastest, wins: Lean Startup and Discovery Driven Growth
  • Article
  • 01 Oct 2023
  • Rita Gunther McGrath
Most entrepreneurial ventures and startups fail. Against this backdrop, Lean Startup and Discovery-Driven Growth (DDG) are methods that emphasize rapid learning, resource parsimony, and focus on validating assumptions as ways of reducing the cost and risk of failure. Rita Gunther McGrath looks at the benefits of both methods, suggesting that they are a major advance over traditional planning processes because they both emphasize rapid learning. She also provides a 'flops file' of massive corporate failures and analyses the mistakes made.
Exclusive Should companies launch new products in a recession?
  • Article
  • 01 Sep 2023
A look at the pros and cons of launching new consumer products during a recession. The authors explore how products introduced during a recession perform, examine how the severity of the recession can impact the product's performance, and scrutinize whether the timing within the recession matters. The authors' research included analysing 8,981 product launches in consumer goods categories within the UK from 1995 to 2012.
Exclusive Down and out? UK insolvencies reach highest level in 14 years
  • Article
  • 01 Sep 2023
  • Sean Feast
The article reports that UK insolvencies have reached their highest level in 14 years, with a 13% increase in registered company insolvencies in Q2 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. While redundancies remain low, factors like increased borrowing and energy costs are affecting businesses' financial stability, leading to a rise in liquidations, administrations and company voluntary arrangements (CVAs).
Exclusive Fighting through the downturn: How CEOs and CFOs can take action together
  • Article
  • 10 Nov 2022
  • Anna King
Advice on what CEOs and CFOs should be doing during an economic downturn, including: gain visibility into where your costs are coming from, set a detailed, graduated budget with milestones, and be pre-emptive in preparing ahead of time.
Exclusive Strategy making in uncertain times
  • Article
  • 01 Sep 2022
  • Mark Gottfredson, Michael Mankins
Most companies have stuck with conventional techniques for strategy-making. In this article the authors describe what it takes to produce great results during economic uncertainty, and propose a practical model for strategy development that they have seen work at several leading companies.
Exclusive Wells Fargo: a corporate recovery model to bank on
  • Article
  • 24 May 2022
  • James Welch
James Welch uses Wells Fargo as a banking industry case example to examine corporate recovery. He makes the case that to move beyond self-inflicted reputational damage and regain sales, successful turnaround companies have embarked on a four-step corporate recovery process centred on four key words: Replace, Restructure, Redevelop and Re-brand. He sees Wells Fargo as a recent addition to these recovery stories.
More articles

Online magazines

Some online journal titles are available only to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. To view the full range of titles available to you, please log in.

Insolvency News
  • ICAEW Professional Standards Department
An update produced by ICAEW's Professional Standards Department. Includes the latest insolvency-related regulatory information and resources.
Disclaimer

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided 'as is' with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection

The collection of the ICAEW Library & Information Service includes a range of articles, books and reports on corporate recovery and insolvency. Use the links below to see what we have available to request in our Library catalogue (Libcat).
Annotated guide to the insolvency legislation
  • Library book
  • 2023
  • L.Sealy
  • Sweet & Maxwell
Annual reference work, providing annotated commentary and clarification on the legal and practical implications of the latest insolvency legislation. The Library has the latest edition and back copies.
Insolvency law handbook (25th edition)
  • Library book
  • 2023
  • G.Davis (ed)
  • LexisNexis
Handbook bringing together in a single consolidated volume the most comprehensive available collection of insolvency law source materials applicable in England, Wales and Scotland.
Buying and selling insolvent companies and businesses
  • Library book
  • 2022
  • K.Titchen
  • Bloomsbury Professional
A comprehensive guide to the sale and purchase of insolvent companies or businesses for insolvency practitioners and other professionals involved in insolvency, including lawyers, accountants, company directors and company secretaries.
Turnaround management: unlocking and preserving value in distressed businesses
  • Library book
  • 2019
  • A.Tilley
  • Globe Law and Business
This practical book draws upon the author's 25 years' experience in turnaround management. It guides the reader through the key issues including staunching cash burn, creating cash generation, identifying viable business elements, eliminating loss-making sectors and excess cost, and identifying a revised strategy, a credible business plan and the management team to implement them.
Corporate administrations and rescue procedures (3rd edition)
  • Library book
  • 2018
  • W.TRower
  • Bloomsbury Professional
An authoritative work by leading experts, dealing specifically with corporate administration and CVAs in the context of business recovery and rescue. This edition includes a new chapter on special administration regimes such as charitable incorporated organisations.
Insolvency and restructuring manual
  • Library book
  • 2018
  • S.Beale
  • Bloomsbury Professional
This book is "a manual to guide you through the considerations and steps in each avenue [of insolvency and restructuring], examining the main formal processes including liquidation, administration, receivership, company voluntary arrangements and schemes of arrangement."

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.

Further ICAEW resources

See the following ICAEW Business topic pages for a selection of online books, articles, guides and useful links:
Woman working in flower shop
Costing
Driving down costs without damaging the business. Find out more about cost management and cost control.
Wind turbines
Steering your business through a recession
Resources to help you steer your business through difficult economic times.
Image of female manager
Leadership
Learn how to become an effective leader.
Construction worker
Risk management
Resources to help you manage risk and carry out business continuity planning for your organisation.

External resources

Business support: managing in difficult times
  • ACAS
ACAS guidance on managing your workforce during times of change, providing free advice on employment law and best practice.
Insolvency 2023 guide
  • Chambers and Partners
The Insolvency 2023 guide by specialist law publishers Chambers & Partners features over 40 jurisdictions. The guide provides the latest legal information on the various types of voluntary and involuntary restructurings, reorganisations, insolvencies and receiverships; out-of-court restructurings and consensual workouts; secured and unsecured creditor rights; international/cross-border issues and processes; and the duties and personal liability of directors and officers.
Terms of use

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided 'as is' with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

Can't find what you're looking for?

The ICAEW Library can give you the right information from trustworthy, professional sources that aren't freely available online. Contact us for expert help with your enquiries and research.

Information

Some of the content on this web page was provided by the Chartered Accountants’ Trust for Education and Research, a registered charity, which owns the library and operates it for ICAEW.