Kevin Hellard, President

Other articles (Insolvency Practitioner, July 2020):

Hi everyone. As we, as a nation, continue the tentative steps out of lockdown, I hope that you all are continuing to manage well. My thoughts are with all those who have been affected by the pandemic. As someone who regularly travels in my role at Grant Thornton, I look forward to a time when it is safer to do this again, as well, of course, as representing the IPA at future ‘in person’ Board meetings and IPA events. We remain hopeful that we will be able to hold a ‘non-virtual’ Personal Insolvency Conference in November.

As referred to in last month’s newsletter article, we continue to press ahead with our four virtual Roadshows. We kick off in September with the first, with some sessions focusing on issues affecting insolvency in Northern Ireland, a second in September with some sessions focusing on issues affecting insolvency in Scotland, and then two general Roadshows, one in October and one in September.

Sessions will focus on topics including the new Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act, advertising, personal insolvency, vulnerability, new regulatory measures, advice on failures, lessons to be taken from responses to Covid-19 and more.

You will be able to engage with each speaker after their slot and network with fellow insolvency professionals.

Find out more and book here.

Committees

As well as my Presidency and having sat on the Board for a number of years, I’m also a member of the IPA’s External Affairs and Member Services Committee and Finance and Risk Committee.

I recently attended my first meeting of the External Affairs and Member Services Committee as President. The Committee considered our events output in the coming months, which has formed a key part of the Committee’s work recently, as well as continually working to ensure our overall services to members are the best they can be. Owing to the current situation, we have had get our heads together and plan how we can be agile, creative and innovative in our goal to deliver excellent events for our members and help them gain their valuable CPD, in a time where the usual options for doing this are limited.

You may be aware from our communications that we have set up two IPA workshops on the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act, to take place later this month and next month. Our Insolvency Practitioner members will no doubt be aware of the Act and the new responsibilities to be aware of, such as the new role of Monitor created via the moratorium within the Act. With this in mind, we have designed two sessions targeted to specific areas of the Act, with carefully curated content to help ensure you are fully up to speed on how the new measures will work in practice.

The first workshop, on 28^th July, will examine the moratorium; and the second explores the arrangements and reconstructions for companies in financial difficulty.

IPA Chief Inspector David Holland will be giving sessions at both workshops, and we have additional support from Alison Curry and Eileen Maclean of Insolvency Support Services. Alison will be presenting at the first workshop and Eileen at the second.

We’re also offering you a discount on attendance at both workshops. Click here for more information on the events and to book.

Also on the agenda at the Committee meeting was the new sub-Committee of External Affairs and Member Services, which is being set up as part of our drive to offer more tailored events for students and help them to get the most out of being an IPA member as they progress to qualification. The initial meeting of the sub-Committee is to take place soon, and I look forward to hearing feedback from this meeting at our next main Committee meeting. Student members – if there is something you think is beneficial for us to offer, then do get in touch on membership@ipa.uk.com.

And on another note on our Committees, we’re on the lookout for new members of External Affairs and Member Services and our other Committees: Regulation and Conduct; Disciplinary and Appeals; Standards, Ethics and Regulatory Liaison; and Finance and Risk.

As a member of two Committees myself, I would actively encourage you to get involved and take advantage of the opportunity to complement your career, gain valuable professional insight and put yourself in a position to shape the future of the profession, as well as extending your network and meeting like-minded people.

You can find out more about our Committees and what they do here.

If you are interested in a new, rewarding role, get in touch with Lyn Green, Head of Operations on lyng@ipa.uk.com.

And to finish, just a quick note on our Charity of the Year, following my referral to it in my last article. In case you weren’t aware, I selected the homelessness charity Crisis as our chosen charity for 2020/21. The work that Crisis does is exceptionally far reaching, and I would encourage you all to consider fundraising for the charity when the opportunity arises. We at the IPA will of course be doing the same, and I look forward to seeing what IPA personnel have been up to in the newsletter and on our social media.

That’s all from me for now. I hope that you all are enjoying the summer and I look forward to writing again in August.

Kevin Hellard, President

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