IPA exclusive industry update from Insolvency Insider
IPA Insolvency Practitioner newsletter, July 2025
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
Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery Limited, Prax Storage Lindsey Limited, and Prax Terminals Killingholme Limited, which own and operate an oil refinery plant in Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, were placed into liquidation on 30 June, with Official Receiver Gareth Allen appointed as liquidator, and Matthew Callaghan, Andrew Johnson, Joanne Hewitt-Schembri and Samuel Ballinger of FTI Consulting appointed as special managers to assist the Official Receiver with the liquidations. Their parent company, State Oil Limited, entered administration on the same day, with Clare Boardman, Matthew Roe and Paul Meadows of Teneo appointed as joint administrators. The Prax companies employ about 420 people, while State Oil employs 182 staff and owns 190 petrol stations in the UK and hundreds more across Europe. A few weeks ago, the company’s Grangemouth refinery stopped processing oil. The Government is funding the Official Receiver while State Oil’s administrators consider all options for the group, including potentially selling the group’s upstream business and retail operations in the UK and Europe, all of which remain outside of insolvency. Glas Trust Corporation and Natixis have registered charges against State Oil, while Glencore Energy UK and Raiffeisen Bank International AG have registered charges against certain of the Prax companies.
Godwin Capital Limited et al., the investment arm of Godwin Developments Limited, entered administration on 20 June, with Steven Illes and Andrew Duncan of MHA appointed as joint administrators. Godwin Developments is a Birmingham-based property developer that has worked on a range of projects across the UK, including The Bendigo Buildings in Nottingham and the Dove Lane scheme in central Bristol. It has not formally entered administration, but it is unclear how it will continue to operate while the investment arm is in administration.
Prohire Limited, a Stoke-on-Trent-based fleet vehicle hire business with a secondary base in Tunbridge Wells, entered administration on 27 June. Timothy Vance and Samuel Woodward of EY were appointed as joint administrators, and said that the company had been unable to secure funding after facing several years of liquidity challenges. The company’s most recent accounts reveal profits which fell by more than £1million, representing an overall loss after tax of £132,000. The majority of the company’s 80 employees have been made immediately redundant, while a small number kept on to assist the joint administrators. There are 30 outstanding charges registered against the company, including charges in favour of Northedge Capital, Close Leasing, Aldermore Bank, Abn Amro Asset Based Finance N.V. and Carrick Asset Finance.
Insights
Daniel Smith, Andrew Charters and Clare Gilbert of Grant Thornton look at key considerations when selecting a suitable discount in a distressed sale and review examples of discounts applied in recent valuations.
Alice Court, Kunal Gadhvi and Rebecca Robinson of Irwin Mitchell summarise a recent decision which provides helpful guidance to insolvency practitioners on the ability to amend Particulars of Claim and the grounds upon which amendments to pleadings can be sought, especially where it is necessary to issue a claim on a protective basis and officeholder investigations are continuing.
The team at AlixPartners comments on the state of turnaround and restructuring in the UK and shares insights from their 20th Turnaround and Transformation Survey, revealing what is driving distress and the sectors that are facing the most trouble.