Why I Became an Insolvency Practitioner and What a Typical Day at the Office Looks Like.
It is, perhaps, not always that well known what an insolvency practitioner does, especially outside of the profession and the wider business circles that we operate in. To the general public, we usually become ‘news’ when there is a high-profile administration, such as The Body Shop and Ted Baker or a liquidation, such as Carillion. Day to day, there is, of course, much more to what we do, and a great deal of it centres around helping businesses survive and turn things around, rather than liquidation.
In this article, Lawrence King, one of our insolvency practitioners, who is a director of Abingdon, Oxfordshire based Antony Batty & Company Thames Valley, explains his route to becoming an insolvency practitioner and what a typical day at the office looks like.
Lawrence’s Route to Becoming an Insolvency Practitioner
“Some say it is a truism that no one chooses a career as an insolvency professional. Well, at least that was so in my case, because it chose me!
Initially I got into a sales job, with the help of a school friend, and I hated it. Not certain what to do, I noticed that a few of my other friends were training to be accountants. I went on to apply for positions as an audit trainee and ended up being offered the position of an insolvency trainee instead. I never looked back.
I worked my way up to becoming a manager and passed my JIEB exams in 2010 before reaching partner level in 2015. I then founded K&W Recovery Trading as Antony Batty & Co Thames Valley in June 2021, a joint venture with Antony Batty and Company. I am glad that insolvency chose me because I still find the job as interesting and challenging as I always did.”
What’s a Typical Day for Me?
“The answer is that there isn’t one, and that’s one of the things that I love about this industry: there is always something new, different, and challenging to work on. However, here are a few of the things that keep me busy on most days:
– Morning – I try to reserve mornings for sending and answering emails, and also reviewing and signing-off letters and statutory reports. I also try to keep our growing team happy by feeding them sweets and chocolate.
– Lunch – One of my main responsibilities is business development, so I am often out for lunch with business contacts. These are usually accountants or lawyers to catch up and see how they are getting on and if there are any developments with their clients that might require our input. Insolvency work is no different to any other business – you must work hard to get your instructions. To balance this, I make sure I go to the gym for a lunchtime work out as often as I can. Otherwise, I sit at my desk with a sandwich and work through to get things done.
Afternoon – Most afternoons I reserve for case work, which often means working on litigation and investigation cases, including discussions with solicitors and funders. I’ll also review books and records, as necessary. I am also an accredited civil and commercial mediator and quite often cases I am working on require my mediation skills.
For the rest of the afternoon, I will work on the business in general, talk to the team to ensure all is progressing smoothly and catch up with contacts or take calls/have meetings for possible new cases.
As you can see, there’s a good deal of variety there, and it’s not all about liquidations and winding up.”
We’re Here for When It’s Not Business as Usual
“In my view an Insolvency Practitioner must be available for advice and, potentially, a meeting within any given 48 hours because often the businesses or individuals we help are in urgent need of assistance. For that reason, I or a colleague will always be on hand when a call comes in.
We always say that the earlier you consult us the better and this really is the case. ‘I just wish I had spoken to you sooner’ must be one of the most common things we hear.”
Need Help with Insolvency, Recovery or Turnaround?
In the meantime, if you need our help and advice in any of our specialist insolvency areas, please contact us or call any of our offices, below, for a FREE initial discussion on the phone or over a coffee, with one of our Licensed Insolvency Practitioners.
- Thames Valley, Oxfordshire: 01235 507001
- London: 0208 088 0633
- Brentwood: 01277 554002
- Salisbury: 01722 512001
- Bournemouth: 01202 923009
