The recent case of 365 Business Finance Ltd v Bellagio Hospitality WB Ltd is a reminder of the need to act quickly when enforcing a Judgment.

Insolvency in the construction industry is not just isolated to contractors, sub-contractors and consultants. Industry and economic pressures can affect all parties, including at times employers, therefore it is equally important for contractors to carry out due diligence when bidding for projects and to consider contractual mechanisms that can be put in place to protect against non-payment by the employer and insolvency risks.

Construction litigation is no stranger to insolvency, including insolvent claimants. This is also the case for adjudication, a fast and commercially driven form of dispute resolution for the construction industry. However, there has been considerable uncertainty as to the enforceability of adjudicators’ awards where a claimant is insolvent and receives a favourable decision. Recent cases have shed some light on this issue and have started to untangle the statutory difficulties when insolvency meets adjudication.

Summary and Key Takeaways

Insolvency in the construction industry is unfortunately never too far away and it would be surprising if anyone, at least indirectly, who is reading this article has not been affected.

Representatives of a lender on a board will not automatically impose directors' duties on the lender, but they may apply where a director's specific instructions have led directly to a breach of fiduciary duty. The High Court recently explored this issue in an appeal in the case of Standish v Royal Bank of Scotland plc.⁽¹⁾

Facts

In the Matter of System Building Services Group Limited (In Liquidation) [2020] EWHC 54 (Ch), the court confirmed that a director’s fiduciary duties continued after the appointment of an administrator or liquidator and that the subsequent purchase from the administrator/liquidator of a property at an undervalue was in breach of those duties. As a result, the property was declared to be held by the director on a constructive trust for the company.

The ferocious expansion of the shared office sector in recent years has caused a great deal of speculation about the long term viability of shared office accommodation as a business model.

In this insight, we look at how a shared office provider's insolvency might impact on its occupiers, depending on the insolvency process which is followed.

The shared office accommodation business model

This article was first published in The Commercial Litigation Journal.

The Chancellor of the High Court has published guidance on how the courts will deal with the e-filing of a “notice of appointment of an administrator” when the court is closed.