A day in the life of… Stuart Taylor

The day always starts early with a wake-up call from the kids and from that point onwards the work phone is never too far away.

My journey into the office from Four Oaks to Birmingham New Street gives me a good 20 minutes to catch-up on anything that may have dropped in the inbox overnight or can be dealt with whilst on the move. The commute is a good opportunity to clear down a couple things and plan for what the day will hold.

On arrival at the office there is need for a fresh cup of coffee to kickstart the day.

My work in the Restructuring and Insolvency team is varied and can mean that I am spending my time advising insolvency practitioners on a possible pre-pack admin or a board of directors on their directors’ duties. It can also involve contentious matters including defending and bringing claims and/or petitioning for winding-up of companies.

I tend to have several different matters on the go at any one time, each of which is at a varying stage. Today, my time is being taken by two rather pressing matters, both with different pressures. One, in relation to completing a pre-pack transaction and the second, dealing with a deadline for a court hearing in two weeks’ time.

A pre-pack admin requires a commercial head as well as technical nous to enable the client to get the deal done. On this current one, the documents are almost in an agreed form and the plan is to get these back with the other side with a view to concluding the transaction.  The application that is to be heard in a couple of weeks’ time requires a more scripted approach to meet necessary court deadlines in terms of filing bundles and having counsel set up and ready to go.

Lunchtime is a quick chance to grab a sandwich ahead of a Birmingham office recruiter event, where I will be presenting to recruitment agents as well as forming part of a panel discussion. The event is to let recruiters know the plan for the Brum office and the intention to grow, building on the full service offering and expertise already provided. The event will be disturbed with checking the odd email to make sure that those assisting me on matters from earlier in the day and others are all in hand and that no one requires any assistance.

A typical afternoon can include conversations or dealing with queries raised by clients or colleagues looking for some guidance from an R&I perspective on matters to, “My client needs some urgent assistance on this, please can you help?”

Safe to say, no day is ever boring with each query usually raising its own specific challenge.

After the recruiter event there is a small amount of time to deal with any final pieces of work ahead of the weekend, including making any urgent calls on matters which require attention.  After closing down my computer and a stroll to New Street, a bit of (fresh) air taken onboard leads me to the train journey home and time to reflect on what has happened in the day and what will be required tomorrow (if during the week) whilst looking at the diary.

On returning home, eating dinner, putting the kids to bed and grabbing a cup of tea, there will be one quick review of anything further that might need doing before shutting down for the night.