Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Insolvency Service has reported that it has returned £61.3 million to creditors, up from the £55.3 million last year according to the results as part of its annual report (2018 to 2019).
Sarah Albon Chief Executive of the Insolvency Service said “I’m happy to report on another solid year of delivery by the Insolvency Service. Our principle objective is to deliver economic confidence, and we do this by supporting people in financial distress, maximising returns to creditors and tackling financial wrongdoing. Across all of these goals we have delivered against our published objectives.”
“There have been many highlights throughout the year. In November, we granted the 250,000th Debt Relief Order (DRO). In the current reporting period we granted over 28,000 DROs and the agency marked the 10-year anniversary of their introduction. In that decade more than £2.3 billion in debt relief has been provided.”
“We returned over £61.3 million to creditors in the current year, up from the £55.3 million we reported in last year’s report. The recycling of funds lost through insolvencies is vital to ensure confidence in our economy.”
“This past year we disqualified 1,242 directors for misconduct, with an increased percentage being banned from the market for 10 years or more. These cases often have a significant community impact. The 10-year disqualification of Howard Grossman, who was behind the failed development of Northampton Town’s stadium, is an example of such a case. Our investigators worked with Northampton Police and found that Mr Grossman had not kept proper accounting records and could not account for at least £5.6 million of transactions before the project folded.”
“I reported last year that the collapse of Carillion was the largest, most complex liquidation the agency had faced, and while our work to transfer its important public sector contracts concluded in August, the Official Receiver continues to wind down the company’s affairs and determine why it failed. I’m hugely proud that our achievements in this case were recognised with the Insolvency Team of the Year award at the Turnaround, Recovery and Insolvency Awards in November.”
“We’ve also continued to modernise our technical infrastructure. This past year we brought a newnfinance system online as part of our vision to integrate our various legacy systems to achieve better efficiencies and improved customer service.”
“Finally, I’ve written previously about how pleased I’ve been to see the improvements in our Civil Service People Survey results and this has continued this year with our engagement scores reaching their highest level ever. Our people remain at the heart of making this agency successful and helping to deliver the best possible services for our customers. As we prepare for the coming year, I have every confidence the agency remains well placed to meet whatever challenges lay around the corner.”
The full report can be viewed here.
