IPA exclusive industry update from Insolvency Insider
IPA Insolvency Practitioner newsletter, March 2024
A specially curated selection of the top stories for IPA members from Insolvency Insider Editor, Dina Kovacevic. More information on all the stories and the link to subscribe to the newsletter is here.
Recent insolvencies
Ollie Quinn UK, the UK arm of global eyewear and optician chain Ollie Quinn, entered administration on 31 January. Andrew Hook and Julie Palmer of Begbies Traynor were appointed as joint administrators, and said that increased operating costs and the burden of Covid loan repayments had caused cash flow issues for the company. A sale of the business and assets to OQ Eyewear has been completed, saving 80 jobs. HSBC UK Bank has a registered charge against the company.
The Body Shop International Limited, the UK arm of an almost 50-year-old cosmetics company, entered administration on 13 February. German private equity firm Aurelius bought The Body Shop just three months ago, but said that “damp revenues during the crucial festive period” had pushed the “icon of eco beauty” into administration. Anthony Wright, Geoffrey Rowley and Alastair Massey of FRP Advisory were appointed as joint administrators and are considering all options for the business. At this point, it is unclear what will become of the company’s 200 UK shops and over 2,200 employees. ALMA24 Limited and Aurelius have registered charges against the company.
BE Offices Limited et al., a flexible workspace provider with 300,000 square feet of office space across the UK, entered administration on 5 February. The onset of COVID-19 and ensuing lockdowns significantly impacted BE Offices’ business model, leading to millions of pounds of lost income in the first year of the pandemic. ReSolve was initially retained by BE Offices in 2022 to assist management with formulating a turnaround plan via 11 moratoriums and subsequently 16 CVA proposals which were all approved by the creditors. However, over the following year, demand did not recover to expected levels due to the working-from-home paradigm shift, and by December 2023, the CVAs had failed. ReSolve was approached again in early January 2024, this time to run an accelerated marketing campaign. On 7 February, joint administrators Lee Manning and Simon Jagger of ReSolve completed sales to companies owned by most of the management team. The companies did not employ any staff directly, but the sale has effectively secured future employment for the majority of the 200 employees working across the group. Apex Group Hold Co (UK) Limited and Simon Rusk have registered charges against the company.
Insights
David Fleming of Kroll, Blair Nimmo of Interpath, Jo Robinson of EY and Richard Fleming of Alvarez & Marsal reflect on why demand for their services is increasing and consider whether profit warnings recently issued by listed companies mean that more large companies are set to face financial strain.
Shannon Lawler of Marie Claire considers why The Body Shop — which should be one of most profitable beauty brands in the world — has gone into administration, and comes to the gloomy conclusion that being a beauty business that does good in 2024 is incredibly difficult, and if The Body Shop can’t do it, it’s not clear who can.
The team at Shearman & Sterling examines a less discussed aspect of the Adler appeal – the fact that the dissenting noteholders did not seek a stay of the sanction order pending the appeal, with the effect that the restructuring became effective on the same day the sanction order was made.
Please note that guest content does not necessarily represent the views of the IPA.