IPA exclusive industry update from Insolvency Insider
IPA Insolvency Practitioner newsletter, July 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
Mallock Limited, a Leicestershire vehicle logistics and haulage operator, has entered administration less than 14 months after creditors approved a CVA. David Kemp and Richard Hunt of Exigen Group were appointed joint administrators on 12 June following an NOI filing. The company operated from Bruntingthorpe with authority for 36 heavy goods vehicles and five trailers and employed an average of 66 people in its latest financial year, down from 88 previously. The public record does not yet explain why the CVA failed or whether trading, a sale process or employee retention continued after the appointment.
Magnet Kitchens has proposed a CVA that would close 15 underperforming stores, comprising 13 retail showrooms and two trade outlets, as it seeks to reduce legacy property costs and support a return to sustainable profitability. The remaining 144 stores would continue trading, with affected customer orders transferred to nearby locations. Natasha Harbinson, Will Wright and Chris Pole of Interpath are overseeing the proposal, which requires creditor approval and comes less than six months after Alteri Investors acquired the business from Nobia. Magnet said the CVA would allow it to restructure unsustainable property liabilities while preserving its stronger stores, manufacturing base and wider operations.
Ardmore Construction Group and several related operating companies entered administration on June 12 after a landmark Building Liability Order ruling over historic fire-safety defects at Portsmouth’s Admiralty Quarter undermined client confidence, payment terms and certified project values. Dominik Thiel-Czerwinke and Jamie Taylor of BTG Begbies Traynor and Jason Callender of Panos Eliades Callender & Co were appointed joint administrators, with trading ceasing and approximately 275 employees made redundant. The collapse of one of London’s largest privately owned contractors leaves major projects facing delays or replacement contractors and follows a court ruling permitting a £14.9 million building-safety liability originally incurred by Ardmore Construction to be extended to associated group companies.
Insights
Lemi McAuley and Elizabeth Wood of Hill Dickinson reveal that UK restructuring plans are regaining momentum in the mid-market after recent appellate guidance, with clearer frameworks supporting leasehold restructurings and cross-class cram down, while CVAs remain a faster, cheaper option for simpler landlord-led compromises.
Rachel Seeley, Katharina Crinson and Richard Tett of Freshfields share how Re NFE Global Holdings confirms the English restructuring plan remains an attractive cross-border tool for international groups, with the court endorsing “good forum shopping”, scrutinising third-party releases and class issues, and sanctioning a near-unanimous US$9.6 billion New Fortress Energy restructuring without needing cross-class cram down.
Michael Evans of Ogier shares that Jersey has a new corporate administration regime which seeks to retain balance between the desire to rescue the company as a going concern versus the rights of secured creditors throughout, providing, for example, the ability to enforce security despite any statutory moratorium.