HCR’s Restructuring and Insolvency Conference Delivers Key Insights to Over 200 Delegates

In October, we hosted our annual HCR Law Restructuring and Insolvency (R&I) Conference.

This year, we welcomed over 200 delegates at Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in the heart of the City of London.

The event opened with a ‘state of the nation’ address by Chris Hare, Senior Economist at HSBC, who provided an insightful analysis of the UK economy. With the budget approaching and inflation on a downward trend, Chris shared HSBC’s forecasts for UK inflation against the current market projections. Outside of the UK, Chris gave a comprehensive overview of the Eurozone’s economic performance, highlighting why certain countries are outperforming others, whether due to their reliance on tourism or manufacturing.

For this year’s keynote, Partner, Alex Wild took to the stage to talk through the rise of pre-insolvency sales and reorganisations.

This was followed by Partner, Hayley Phelps, and Legal Director, Rowena Clark, sharing insight with the audience on the common matters that have been coming across their desk this year, and how the market can respond to these themes occurring across the restructuring and insolvency sector.

The first of two panel sessions kicked off with a discussion of Section 212 claims. Carly Moore-Martin hosted Matthew Parfitt and Raquel Agnello KC from Erskine Chambers along with Gwilym Jones from litigation funder Henderson and Jones.

Following a short coffee break, we rejoined Azra Alam and Emma Potter who gave an insightful look at the top R&I cases of the year so far.

Laura Shelton, Healthcare Regulatory Partner commenced the sector focused sessions. Laura provided valuable insights into the adult social care sector, discussing cases involving adult care homes and highlighting how the healthcare team has collaborated with restructuring and insolvency colleagues on these matters.

HCR’s Head of Education, Kristine Scott, followed Laura with an insightful update on the current state of the education sector, focusing specifically on independent schools. With impending VAT changes along with the Teachers’ Pension Scheme backdrop, the sector is facing significant challenges. Kristine shared the key areas where the education team is advising clients across England and Wales.

Corporate Partner, Tim Ward took to the stage to discuss the ways in which businesses can incentivise and align their people to maximise success in uncertain times.

The conference’s second panel session of the day saw Sam Payne joined by Dave Sherrington and James Sharp from alternative lender ThinCats with Harry Bengough and Frank Brumby.

Keeping delegates on their toes, the panel kicked off by inviting the audience to participate in an interactive survey to gauge opinion on how the R&I landscape has shaped up for 2024.

The audience were asked everything from “what macro factor will have the most negative influence on the lending landscape?” – with 64% of recipients answering “UK politics” – to “how do you think AI will affect lender processes?” – with heightening efficiency and leading to job cuts coming out joint first with 43% of the vote.

We will analyse the results from the interactive poll and share further insights from the conference.

The day was rounded off with comedian Gary Delaney.

Thank you to all those who attended the 2024 Restructuring & Insolvency Conference. We look forward to welcoming you back next year.