Adrian Hyde, President

IPA Insolvency Practitioner newsletter, May 2025

The time has come for my final introduction to the monthly newsletter. My time as President has flown by and has been a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding experience. I have had the opportunity to travel to all of the regions in the UK, to present to hundreds of members, and to engage with many different stakeholders within our profession. It is my pleasure to pass the baton on to Yin Lee, who formally takes up the role this week.

For my last public engagement as President I hosted last week’s Birmingham Roadshow at the offices of Pinsent Masons. The event was very well attended and the speakers provided a very wide range of engaging sessions, with input from the Redundancy Payments Service and West Midlands Police, amongst others. All in all it was a very enjoyable and successful day. 

As I write this, I am reflecting on what a turbulent year it has been – encompassing our own parliamentary electoral process, and that of the US, with everything that followed. At the end of the period, things are starting to look up; apart from the US trade deal, the benefits of which have yet to be announced (!), news has been released of an agreement with the EU around trade and security. It is very much hoped that this will ensure that trade relations with Europe improve, and that travel will go some way back to the smooth and effortless pre-Brexit process that I, for one, enjoyed. Let’s hope that this agreement also provides the green shoots of growth that UK business needs. It won’t all be plain sailing as I see that it includes EU fishing rights into UK waters, which is always a controversial subject.

I cannot leave the role without passing on my thanks to those involved in making my year as President go as smoothly as possible; first to the team at the IPA who provided such comprehensive support it made doing the job a joy. I would particularly like to thank Judith and Charlotte who between them made sure that I was always in the right place at the right time, with speaking notes, timetable, and microphone! I would also like to thank Begbies Traynor Group for the support that I have been given, not least Lisa Jacobs and Frazer Shaw, who provided support internally, and chased me relentlessly to complete my submissions before the deadline (including these articles!).

Lastly, before I take off the chain of office, I would like to encourage everyone to become involved in the IPA. The organisation is growing and going from strength to strength. It continually requires fresh talent and participation from members – on committees and speaking at events. Wherever you are, there is a role that you can take. The more people that step up, the greater the longevity of the organisation and the broader the opportunities for increasing its diversity and inclusion for all.