Jaeger and Peacocks are the latest in a (seemingly) ever lengthening list of High Street stores who have fallen victim to the pandemic, with both stores entering administration last week.
FRP Advisory have been appointed as administrators and are seeking a sale of the businesses which they note are both "attractive brands" for a potential purchaser.
The UK Government has introduced a new suspension of the wrongful trading provisions contained in s214 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) to apply from 26 November 2020 to 30 April 2021.
We reported in September that New Look's CVA had been approved by creditors, including provision for 400 of its store rents to be linked to turnover - see https://blog.charlesrussellspeechlys.com/post/102gf9i/a-new-look-for-commercial-rents
However, it seems that the controversial CVA is now going to be challenged in the courts by a number of the landlord creditors, including British Land and Land Securities. This will obviously be unwelcome news for the retailer on top of the arrival of a second lockdown, which will inevitably cause further disruption for its business.
The damage that the COVID pandemic has done to the food and beverage sector has been widely reported. Plenty of well-known and well-loved restaurants and pubs have entered into an insolvency process or formally restructured their debts in an effort to survive.
This summer’s landmark Supreme Court decision in Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Ltd v Bresco Electrical Services Ltd (in Liquidation) [2020] UKSC 25 (“Bresco”) would have doubtless been interesting news for Insolvency Practitioners (“IPs”) engaged in the construction sector.
Following its decision in July to consider restructuring options in light of its mounting debts, the popular restaurant chain Pizza Hut has reached an agreement with its creditors by way of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that will see 215 of its 244 restaurants (88%) continue trading, as well as retaining around 5,000 of its 5,450 employees (92%).
Part I -- Introduction
Dischargeable Claims
On September 29, 2020, the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary advanced a Democrat-backed bill to the full chamber that seeks to address perceived shortcomings in the Bankruptcy Code’s protections for employee and retiree benefits and to curtail the use of bonuses and special compensation arrangements for executives in bankruptcy cases.
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 came into force on 26 June 2020 introducing a number of temporary and more permanent reforms, summarised in my colleague Jess’ post here.