Oliver Radley-Gardner & Mark Sefton consider the complexities involved in administrations
According to the statistics published by the Insolvency Service, administrations in the second quarter of 2008 (938) were up 60.3% on the same quarter in 2007 (585). Recent high-profi le instances of administrations to make the headlinesare, of course, the Woolworths and MFI administrations. Th e Insolvency Act 1986, Sch B1, para 3 sets out what the purposes of administration are:
“ (a) rescuing the company as a going concern, or
(b) achieving a better result for the company’s creditors as a whole than would be likely if the company were wound up (without first being in administration), or
(c) realising property in order to make a distribution to one or more secured or preferential creditors.”
While an administration is in process, para 43 of Sch B1 imposes a moratorium on legal processes, includingforfeiture by peaceable re-entry or service of proceedings. A landlord may only proceed with either the consent of the administrators or the permission of the courts.
The court has discretion to
