Meet Our Speakers: IPA Roadshow | Leeds 2025
IPA Manchester Roadshow Host
Yin Lee, IPA President 2025-26; Director, YLA
Yin is a Solicitor, licensed Insolvency Practitioner and Director at YLA. She has over 20 years’ experience focussing on business restructuring and insolvency. She enjoys the variety of the work insolvency brings together with the challenges of finding workable solutions for underperforming businesses.
Through Yin’s position as Vice-President, she hopes to continue mentoring the next generation and opening the doors to increasingly diverse talent.
Yin has a keen interest in football and sits on the Serious Disciplinary Panel and the Appeals Panel at the Football Association (FA).
Economic Update – One Year Into A New Government
Mark Goldstone, Policy Manager, UK Competitiveness, CBI
Mark leads the CBI’s policy team covering UK Competitiveness, focusing on the levers that can unlock economic growth across UK nations and regions including planning reform, infrastructure delivery, industrial strategy and English devolution.
Mark previously worked for 18 years within the Chambers of Commerce network in Yorkshire where he was Head of Policy and Business Representation, working closely with business and stakeholders to drive economic growth across the region.
Mark holds 2 degrees in physics and an MBA in business and economics.
Recent Trends in Insolvency Statistics
David Webster, Head of Statistics & HR Analysis, Insolvency Service
David Webster is Head of Statistics and HR Analysis at the Insolvency Service. He leads the team that produces the accredited official statistics on insolvency in the UK, which are published each month. He and his team also analyse insolvency data to support the policy and operational work of the Insolvency Service. David’s career as a government statistician has covered a range of departments, having previously worked at the Valuation Office Agency and the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Insolvency Service: Policy Developments and Economic Crime Reform Implementation
Louise Chester, Head of Policy, Economic Crime Reform Implementation Unit, Insolvency Service
Louise is Head of Policy in the newly formed Economic Crime Reform Implementation Unit tasked with maximising the opportunities arising from ECCTA reforms and development of the Agency’s future investigation and enforcement strategy. Louise was previously a senior policy advisor, with responsibility for maintaining emergency insolvency legislation during the Covid pandemic, prior to which she was a Deputy Official Receiver in Leeds where she led on multiple insolvencies and associated investigations across a range of sectors.
Driving Change: ECCTA Reforms at Companies House and Our Collaboration with The Insolvency Service
Josh Coles, Principal Implementation Advisor, Companies House
Joshua Coles joined Companies House in January 2024. Joshua is currently a Principal Implementation Advisor in the Implementation Unit which plays a key role in the transformation plans and legislative reform at Companies House. Prior to joining the Implementation Unit, Joshua was a Senior Operational Leader in the Customer Delivery Directorate with a focus on Persons of Significant Control and Late Filing Penalties.
Michelle Lewis, Principal Implementation Advisor, Companies House
Michelle joined Companies House in May 2022. Michelle is currently Principal Implementation Advisor in the Implementation Unit which plays a key role in the transformation plans and legislative reforms at Companies House. Prior to joining the Implementation Unit Michelle was Senior Policy Advisor in policy team with a focus on identity verification and Authorised Corporate Service Providers. Michelle has also worked as Policy Lead on the Register of Overseas Entities and the new Director Disqualification Sanction introduced in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
The Ongoing Importance of File Notes (and Other Regulatory Matters)
Stuart Jary, Inspector, IPA
Stuart Jary is an Inspector at the Insolvency Practitioner’s Association. Stuart joined the IPA as a regulatory officer and has extensive industry experience having worked for FRP Advisory, PwC and HMRC.
Loan Sharks, Vulnerability and Debt: The Social Cost of Informal Finance
Patricia Cassidy, Credit Union Liaise Officer, England Illegal Money Lending Team
Trish Cassidy is the LIAISE officer for the England Illegal Money Lending Team. Her role focuses on loan shark prevention, by working in collaboration with Credit Unions to promote savings and raise awareness of affordable, ethical credit provision to those who struggle accessing mainstream provision.
Sector Pressure: Never Mind the Autumn Budget, what about the Employment Rights Bill?
Mark Ranson, Partner, Opus Restructuring and Insolvency
Mark Ranson is a licensed insolvency practitioner and chartered accountant with over 25 years of experience helping stressed, distressed and insolvent businesses and individuals find the best solution available in the circumstances.
His experience encompasses a wide variety of industries and professions, with an emphasis on organisations based in Yorkshire and the Northeast of England.
He has also taken appointments under the Scottish Insolvency regime previously, so can advise cross border entities on their available options.
Increased Insurability of IPs’ Claims Against Directors in Light of the Ground Breaking BHS Decision
John Pennie, Senior Vice-President, Marsh
John Pennie was for 33 years a partner in Womble Bond Dickinson specialising in Insolvency, Restructuring, Chancery Litigation and Intellectual Property. He served on the Lord Chancellor’s Insolvency Rules Committee for the 10 year maximum term and he was the moderator of the Personal Insolvency paper in the JIEB exam for over 25 years. While working as a lawyer he yearned for certain risk mitigation insurance tools and after joining JLT/ Marsh in 2017 he has set about filling some of the gaps he noticed when in practice. In addition to his work at Marsh he has 7 other directorships and runs a small herd of beef cattle.
From Red Flags to Realisations: Supporting SIP2 Investigations and Case Progression Through Targeted Litigation Funding
Andrew Cawkwell, Chief Operating Officer, Manolete Partners PLC
Andrew is Associate Director covering the North East. Andrew qualified as a solicitor in 2003 and has been a partner at multi office firm Watson Burton LLP and Muckle LLP. Andrew became the first dual qualified practising solicitor and Certified Turnaround Professional accredited by the European Association of Certified Turnaround Professionals and won ‘Turnaround Practitioner of the Year’ at the 2016 TRI Awards. Andrew is a national board director of Turnaround Management Association (UK) and is a member of R3.
Pitfalls in Administration Appointments and Legal Update
Alice Pratt, Partner, Business Restructuring and Insolvency, Clarion Solicitors
Alice is a highly regarded Business Restructuring and Insolvency lawyer. She works across all aspects of both corporate and personal insolvency throughout the UK, dealing with contentious and non-contentious aspects of assignments. Alice regularly acts for insolvency practitioners or businesses or individuals facing financial distress. She is also known as a specialist in personal insolvency and has acted in a number of high-profile and high-value bankruptcy matters.
David Spence, Associate, Business Restructuring and Insolvency, Clarion Solicitors
David has a broad spectrum of experience and regularly provides advice to both individual and commercial clients. He is frequently instructed on matters in respect of bankruptcy, administrations, pre-pack sales, and antecedent transactions. David’s work includes both the transactional and contentious areas of insolvency law, so he is well-placed to provide comprehensive advice and assistance in a wide range of circumstances.