Open Season on IPs in the Press - Admonishing Administrators, Lashing Liquidators, Thwacking Trustees and Slapping Supervisors

The casual reader of yesterday's press may be mistaken for thinking that the the Glorious Twelfth marked the beginning of open season on Insolvency Practitioners (IPs), instead of red grouse. Both The Guardian and Private Eye (pictured) have put the boot into IPs in no uncertain terms. The Guardian critiques Mr Andrew Andronikou's remuneration for administering Portsmouth Football Club, whilst Private Eye (No.1272, at page 29) recycles Mr Justice Henderson's judgment in Mourant & Co Trustees Ltd & Anor v Sixty UK Ltd & Ors [2010] EWHC 1890 (Ch) (23 July 2010) and the criticism leveled at Mr Nick O'Reilly and Mr Peter Hollis in that judgment. Much mileage is made of the demise of Vantis plc (in administration) and the phoenix like rise of FRP Advisory, as well as Mr O'Reilly's role as past president of R3. 

Both stories are worth a read. The remuneration critique is particularly interesting. For two academic articles on this issue see here and here. An IP's appearance in Private Eye might start to attract the same kind of kudos that ASBOs seemed to provide their miscreant recipients. It is said that there is no such thing as bad publicity! It is perhaps time though for R3 to try to respond to the Eye. It seems of late as if IPs feature in nearly every issue of the Eye and not for the right reasons!  

Picture Credit: http://www.timemachinego.com/linkmachinego/images/private-eye-cover-1083.jpg