Adrian Hyde, President

IPA Insolvency Practitioner newsletter, August 2024

Dear members,

The last month since the general election has been turbulent in many ways. The Government was thrown straight into emergency mode following the dreadful events in Southport, and the rioting and unrest which followed. As a result, the usually quiet summer recess period has been anything but. Domestically, for the first time since March 2020, the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee reduced the base rate, as inflation remains within target levels. Hopefully, this will give relief to many struggling businesses and households as borrowing costs start to fall. Clearly it will take some time to impact the high figures that we are seeing for the numbers of liquidations but is a step in the right direction.

Internationally, the world is looking more unpredictable, as commentators forecast recession in the US as figures for employment/unemployment provided disappointment, and the Federal Reserve failed to reduce US interest rates. These figures for the US, along with an interest rate rise in Japan, led to some significant movements in stock markets around the world, including a 12% drop in Japan. Whilst the rest of last week saw much of the falls being recovered, it looks as though we are in for an interesting few months ahead, particularly with less than 3 months to go until the US election takes place.

I was delighted to attend my first Roadshow last month, in Leeds. In a packed event we saw an excellent group of speakers, from public and private sectors, talking on a diverse range of topics including cyber-crime, regulatory developments, legal updates and the personal debt sector. I hope to see many more of you at the remaining Roadshows, and other events that we have coming up.

Best wishes,

Adrian