Meet our Speakers: IPA Roadshow | London 2025
Our Host
Yin Lee, President, IPA; 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 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).
The Insolvency Service: Trends in Insolvency Statistics 2025 and Beyond
John Perrett, Head of Analysis & Performance, Strategy, Policy & Analysis, Insolvency Service
John Perrett, Head of Analysis and Performance at the Insolvency Service. John’s career in analysis for the Government spans insolvency, criminal justice and public sector pay.
The Insolvency Service: Sector Update and Strategic Priorities
Joseph Sullivan, Head of Insolvency Practitioner Regulation, Strategy, Policy, Analysis, Insolvency Service
Joe is head of Insolvency Practitioner Regulation at the Insolvency Service and has over 23 years experience in insolvency. He has recently led work to define the Agency’s role in tackling fraud and money laundering within a new investigation and enforcement strategy and developing a closer partnership with Companies House. Previously Joe was an Official Receiver for both London and Public Interest Unit offices, dealing with a range of bankruptcy and liquidation matters, including Debenhams PLC and the SK:N group of companies. Joe also previously spent 10 years in insolvency practitioner regulation, helping to oversee the work of the RPBs. Joe is JIEB qualified, passing both exams in 2022.
How to Successfully Navigate Sanctions in UK Insolvency Practice
Allister Manson, Executive Partner, Head of Technology Advisory, Opus Restructuring & Insolvency
Allister Manson leads the technology team at Opus and is an authorised Insolvency Practitioner with over 20 years of insolvency and restructuring experience, supporting businesses from start-ups to established software and hardware providers. As a former tech founder himself, Allister loves to engage with management in tech businesses and has a deep appreciation of the value of intellectual property.
Crypto Asset Recovery
Hugo Hoyland, Chief Strategy Officer, Asset Reality
Hugo Hoyland is Chief Strategy Officer at Asset Reality where he primarily advises governments, law enforcement agencies, and multilateral bodies on operational readiness, threat finance, and asset recovery. His work in the private sector focuses on how to maximise the value of recoveries for victims and creditors, by building and scaling secure and efficient digital asset investigative, seizure, and asset management capabilities. Prior to Asset Reality, Hugo was a Senior Director for Kroll in London where he co-founded and grew the digital asset practice into a major global player for investigations, asset recovery, and insolvency.
Legal Insights and Practical Tips for Insolvency Professionals
Gemma Kaplan, Partner, Pinsent Masons LLP
Gemma heads up our Restructuring Dispute Resolution practice and is our contentious insolvency specialist with 15 years’ experience. She regularly acts for a large number of clients advising insolvency practitioners and lenders on corporate insolvencies and complex bankruptcies. Additionally, Gemma regularly advises invoice discounters/factors and asset-based lenders, carving out a niche in recoveries and restructuring advice in the receivables finance industry. She has experience in fraud investigations and often advises insolvency practitioners regarding claims arising out of directors’ breaches of statutory duties.
James Hillman, Partner, Pinsent Masons LLP
James specialises in restructuring & insolvency matters. He has significant expertise in advising insolvency practitioners, funders, directors, creditors and buyers of distressed businesses on a wide range of restructuring, insolvency and recovery matters.
Attracting and Retaining Top Talent in Insolvency in 2025 and Beyond
Nicky Acuna Ocana, Regional Managing Director US, UK, Europe, Ambition
Nicky Acuna Ocana has led high-performing recruitment teams for over 25 years. As Regional Managing Director of Ambition UK, Europe and US, she leads a team of highly skilled recruitment consultants, including an experienced team of Insolvency & Restructuring specialists. Nicky is a passionate advocate of ED&I and regularly writes and speaks on this topic. She is a member of Chief, founder of the Ambition Diversity & Inclusion committee and sits on The Board of the Haverstock Career Network.
Paul Davies, Partner, James Cowper Kreston
Paul is a Turnaround, Restructuring and Insolvency Partner at James Cowper Kreston who manages a team of 14 across 3 locations. He was President of the Turnaround Management Association UK for 3 years until 31 December 2023 as well as being a Board member there for 6 years. Paul was named Turnaround Professional of the Year at the 2017 TRI Awards and is also a qualified insolvency practitioner, licensed by the ICAEW.
Kristina Kicks, Managing Director, Interpath Advisory
Kris is a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner and Managing Director in Interpath’s market leading Contentious Insolvency and Asset Recovery Team. Kris has over 20 years’ experience in asset tracing, insolvency and recovery in the UK and overseas. She specialises in contentious and complex corporate and personal asset recovery and insolvency assignments, and has wide experience in enforcement, investigations and in identifying and securing assets in the UK and overseas.
Along Came a Spider: How Britain’s Biggest Brands Got Bit by Cyber Attacks in 2025
William Taaffe, Chief Operating Officer, Lockdown Cyber Security
William is the Co-Founder and COO of Lockdown Cyber Security, who sees Cyber Security through the eyes of a finance professional, delivering world class training products and technical solutions. William has dedicated himself towards his passion of cyber security, a topic of interest since his early teens. An accomplished presenter, William has spoken on behalf of major British retail banks, the British Dental Association, Bathroom Manufacturers Association, Builders Merchant Federation and is a regular contributor around cyber fraud within the UK anti-fraud sector, delivering masterclass training sessions to industry practitioners.
In addition, William has been published and featured in industry magazines and national newspapers, educating on the topic of digital risk. A well-received trainer, William has worked with a variety of SME and enterprise level organisations, delivering bespoke training around cyber security and data protection, and advising on holistic cyber security to help organisations better layer their cyber resilience.
Practical Guidance for Wrongful Trading Claims
Brett Eeles, Associate Director, Manolete Partners PLC
Brett has been at Manolete Partners plc since 2022 and is based in the South West. Previously Brett trained and qualified at the international city firm Norton Rose Fulbright LLP where he worked in the dispute resolution team for six years, before moving to Foot Anstey LLP. Brett has a degree in Mandarin and Law. He has acted for clients on trials in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
From the Irish Sea to the Mediterranean: What Now for Cross Border Insolvency and Restructuring?
Robert Paterson, Partner, Wedlake Bell – Chair
Robert is a partner in the Insolvency and Restructuring team. He mostly specialises in non-contentious advice to all officeholders and stakeholders in distressed situations. He has recently undertaken a number of cross border assignments. Robert is also a licensed insolvency practitioner and is a member of the Insolvency Rules Committee.
Recent experience includes:
- Board member of Insolvency Practitioners Association since 2024
- Advised fixed charge receivers over shares in multi-million real estate development north of the City
- Achieved successful mediation settlement for major US supplier against UK based distributor
- Acted for the purchaser of UK wide food sector business from its administrators
- Represented joint administrators of an engineering technology company in contract race and business and asset sale.
- Representing administrators of a German subsidiary to a household name retailer and obtaining court directions to transfer realisations for distribution in Germany by local officeholders
Acting for US corporate in successful mediation with a UK manufacturer.
Giorgio Corno, Partner, Avvocato, Solicitor (England and Wales), SCAI Legal
Giorgio Corno acts as an Italian Avvocato and is qualified as a solicitor (England and Wales, admitted, 2004). Founding partner of SCAI Legal, a boutique law firm based in Milan, he regularly assists insolvency practitioners on cross-border issues regarding insolvency and restructuring proceedings. He is a past president of Insol Europe and a founder of CERIL, Conference of European Restructuring and Insolvency Law.
Ashley Fairbrother, Partner, Edmonds Marshall McMahon
Ashley has rare dual specialism, combining civil litigation expertise with being a highly experienced criminal prosecutor.
In his role as a prosecutor, Ashley worked on the confiscation proceedings against notorious fraudster Ketan Somaia, dubbed “King Con”, whose crimes were described as being of “Olympian scale”. His efforts resulted in confiscation and compensation orders exceeding £38 million – the largest ever to be awarded in a private criminal prosecution, R v Somaia (2016).
Kathleen Burke, Of Counsel, Maples Group
Kathlene is a Dublin-based special situations lawyer at Maples and Calder (Ireland) LLP, specialising in complex, cross-border matters spanning Ireland, the US, the UK, and leading offshore jurisdictions. Renowned for her expertise in international restructuring and insolvency, she has been invited to join prestigious industry organisations, including III and CERIL and has been a delegate to UNCTRAL WG V for the past 8 years.
Cyber Cover for IPs: Don’t be Caught Out
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.
Simple in Theory, Complex in Practice: The Reality of Insolvency Compliance
David Holland, Chief Inspector, IPA
David has oversight and management of the inspection team, ensuring adherence to policies and procedures of the IPA and making sure that the regulatory objectives are met via onsite monitoring visits. David is the IPA’s Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) and heads up the IPA’s responsibility as an Anti- Money Laundering Supervisor.