IPA exclusive industry update from Insolvency Insider
IPA Insolvency Practitioner newsletter, May 2026
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
The Real Greek has been sold out of administration in a pre-pack deal to Karali Group, with Alvarez & Marsal completing a rapid transaction that preserves 19 of 28 sites while closing the remainder and cutting around 151 jobs. The restructuring secures approximately 358 roles but underscores sustained margin pressure across the UK casual dining sector, where inflation in food, labour, and occupancy costs has driven losses and forced portfolio rationalisation. The collapse follows a strategic review under Fulham Shore, owned by Toridoll, and comes alongside ongoing restructuring at sister brand Franco Manca.
Franco Manca 2 UK Limited, the operating company behind the Franco Manca pizza chain in the UK, has launched a CVA which is understood to form part of a wider rationalisation of Franco Manca’s footprint, with around 16 restaurants expected to close and approximately 225 jobs potentially affected. Parent company The Fulham Shore has said a minority of Franco Manca’s roughly 70 sites are no longer economically sustainable, citing higher labour costs, increased employer national insurance contributions, elevated business rates and wider inflationary pressures weighing on margins across the restaurant sector. Pinsent Masons is advising Franco Manca on the CVA.
Fenchurch Legal, a litigation finance provider known for backing bulk consumer claims, has entered administration after a disputed court process, with Vincent Simmons of BV Corporate Recovery & Insolvency Services appointed on 1 April. The appointment follows an application by Lowry Trading that Fenchurch had opposed while continuing to trade. The company, which financed small-ticket ATE claims, disbursements and working capital, had positioned itself as an innovator in the sector, including a 2024 tokenisation partnership with South African platform Altify. Its collapse highlights the risks of exposure to struggling claimant firms, after earlier links to the failures of McDermott Smith and Nicholson Jones Sutton Solicitors.
Insights
Shaun Walker of Mercer & Hole warns that UK “zombie companies” operating between distress and formal insolvency pose growing restructuring and litigation risks, with delayed intervention potentially increasing director liability, antecedent transaction claims and creditor losses where businesses continue trading without a credible turnaround plan.
Lauren Hartigan-Pritchard of Higgs explains that while repeat insolvency rescues and pre-pack administrations remain legally permissible tools for preserving businesses and jobs, repeated failures involving the same management and unresolved issues risk undermining creditor confidence, attracting greater scrutiny of director conduct, and intensifying concerns about transparency, accountability, and the ethical limits of the UK’s rescue culture.
Anton de Leeuw and Alan Tilley of BM&T provide a joint perspective on the next phase of preventative restructuring in the UK and Europe, arguing that preventative restructuring was never meant to be only a pause button, but to create the conditions for a real rescue, and consider whether our professional architecture is fully aligned with that ambition.