Being an insolvency practitioner is one of the most multi-disciplined and sector-agnostic careers you can choose. The variety of the work and the ability to positively impact the lives of business owners who are struggling provides a great deal of satisfaction. The environment in which we work is ever changing, and continuing to learn and upskill is a constant.
Back to the future would be a good description of this year for me! I returned to Friel Stafford last year shortly after the firm’s acquisition by Ifac [Irish Farm Accounts Co-op], having trained at the firm before leaving to broaden my experience in 2017. It has been great to reconnect and to get to know the people who started more recently. I’m looking forward to exploring new ways that we can work together to maximise the client experience.
With every change in law, new opportunities arise
It’s proving to be a busy year for insolvency practitioners. There are significant increases in the number of SCARP and creditors’ voluntary liquidations among SMEs. Every company that is facing questions regarding their viability should consider SCARP, and our experience is that a significant number of companies have avoided liquidation by doing so.
As a director, my core focus is on working with companies on liquidations, restructuring and succession planning, as well as internal staff development. We look to bring clarity and understanding to businesses on the issues they face and provide options for business survival through SCARP and examinership or for winding up through liquidation.
With every change in law, or the outcome of a court application, the way we do business changes and new opportunities arise from that. The only aspect that is better than learning is being able to teach more junior staff about these changes and how they might apply them in their work going forward.
I’ve redefined what success and failure are many times in my career
To get away from it all I try to get out into the fresh air. I’ve always found exercise the best way to switch off. If you can get to the mountains it has a way of making all of life’s stresses seem far away and whatever was on your mind feel more manageable.
I’ve redefined what success and failure are many times in my career and ultimately realised that those definitions are only relevant to me. The most important lesson I’ve learned is around taking stock and ensuring your plans are about getting you to where you really want to be, rather than where you thought you did when you started out.
