Forward Thinking - A research and technical conference presented by the Insolvency Service 2022

Dr Katharina Möser teaches company and contract law. Her research focuses on issues of consumer debt and personal insolvency law. Recent publications critically examine the assumptions of neoclassical economic theory and their influence on the design of legal norms.

Yvonne graduated from the University of Strathclyde with a first-class Honours degree in Accounting and Economics in 1997. Upon graduating, she commenced her professional accountancy training with Arthur Andersen, where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant with ICAS in 2000. Yvonne moved to a professional lecturing post at ICAS in 2002, where she also assumed responsibility for the assessment of work-based competencies, and then to Strathclyde University in 2006. She joined the Accounting and Finance subject group at the University of Glasgow in 2011 and was awarded her PhD in 2021.

Betty is a senior lecturer in Accounting and Finance at the University of Glasgow, Adam Smith Business School.  Her current research interests include corporate governance, empirical corporate finance, behavioural finance, and private equity.  In addition, she has several pieces of research work of an interdisciplinary nature and has published academic articles in Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, and Law journals.  She has recently started working on welfare implications of finance and the social impact of business activities.

Stewart Perry is a partner in Fieldfisher LLP's insolvency and restructuring practice and primarily acts for insolvency practitioners, various categories of financier, distressed companies and their directors. He is also the chair of the R3 General Technical Committee, a member of the Policy group and a member of Council, as well as being a member of the Consulting Editorial Board for the LexisNexis Restructuring & Insolvency PSL product.

Ben Luxford has worked at PwC, UHY Hacker Young, BDO, and Moorfields Advisory.  He joined R3 in 2019 as its Technical Manager.  Ben’s notable achievements include overseeing the final distribution of c$33m (in various currencies) to $2.8bn creditors in the case of Maxwell Communications Corporation Plc and being part of the team that worked on the Special Administration of Hartmann Capital Limited and returned the majority of client monies within 12 months.

Eileen is a licensed insolvency practitioner with over 33 years’ experience of all aspects of Scottish personal and corporate insolvency.  She is the founding director of Insolvency Support Services, an award-winning provider of training, outsourcing, compliance, and practice support services to the UK insolvency market.  A member of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3) and licensed by the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA), Eileen has represented Scotland on R3’s National Council, is a member of R3’s Scottish Technical Committee and chairs the IPA’s Standards, Ethics & Regulatory Liaison Committee.  She sits on the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s PTD Standing Committee, Bankruptcy Stakeholder Group and Policy and Cases Committee, and the Scottish Statutory Debt Solutions Forum.

Philip Hertz has been a Partner of Clifford Chance since 2002 and is Global Head of their Restructuring and Insolvency Group. He is a member of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals, INSOL, and the Insolvency Lawyers’ Association. Philip is also a past President of the Insolvency Lawyers’ Association.

Melissa Coakley of Clifford Chance advises a broad spectrum of stakeholders on consensual and non-consensual cross border restructurings, work outs, reorganisations, and formal insolvencies. She maintains a focus on the Middle East, having spent five years on secondment to Clifford Chance’s Dubai office during the Dubai financial crisis.

Giles Allison is a senior associate at Clifford Chance. He specialises in contentious and advisory work, and has advised insolvency officeholders in a wide variety of situations, notably issues arising from trading administrations and litigation against former officers and other connected persons.  For the Official Receiver, Giles has worked on the liquidations of SLB 2020 Limited (formerly British Steel) and the Baglan Bay group.  Giles also has extensive experience of aviation and insurance insolvencies

Robert Davey is an Associate in Clifford Chance's London Restructuring and Insolvency Group.  Since qualifying as a solicitor in March 2021, Robert's recent experience includes advising the Official Receiver with respect to the Baglan Bay power station liquidation.  Robert is also a member of the Insolvency Lawyers Association.

Dr John Tribe is a Senior Lecturer at Law at Liverpool University. He is a leading authority on insolvency law and policy. His research interests are in private law, including insolvency, bankruptcy history, company, charity and equity and trusts. He is currently researching insolvent charities and timeliness in corporate insolvency. He is also currently a member of the Government’s ‘Director Education Advisory Group’ which is examining director education in the United Kingdom.

Professor Peter Walton is a Professor of Insolvency Law who has taught at the University of Wolverhampton for over 30 years. Widely published, his work has been cited in court both at home and abroad, including by the UK Supreme Court. He has completed various research projects including those for the UK Government and the UK insolvency trade and professional bodies.

Professor Andrew Keay trained as a lawyer in Australia and became a partner in an Australian law firm, specialising in corporate and commercial law, and appearing in superior courts in company, insolvency, and probate actions. He has taught at several Australian universities, specialising in commercial law before coming to work in the UK. He has been at Leeds University since 2002 where he has acted at various times as the Director of the Centre for Business Law and Practice and now teaches Insolvency Law and International Corporate Governance at postgraduate level.

Dr Stephen Baister is a former solicitor and licensed insolvency practitioner who took an appointment as a registrar in bankruptcy of the High Court, ultimately serving as chief registrar. At present a non-executive director of Manolete Partners plc, a consultant at Wedlake Bell LLP and a mediator at 3 Stone Buildings, he continues to sit as a deputy insolvency and companies court judge. He is honorary president of the Chartered Institute of Credit Managers. As an author/contributor he has written on insolvency for a wide range of books and journals.