Chris Allen

Chris specialises in corporate advisory, restructuring and turnaround, advising boards and a range of stakeholders in stressed and distressed situations, and employer covenant assessments and advice related to defined benefit pension schemes.

Experience

Chris has over 20 years’ experience of undertaking a wide variety of advisory assignments, accelerated M&A processes, independent business reviews, pensions covenant assessments and being appointed insolvency practitioner (administrator or liquidator) on formal insolvency appointments.

He has worked across a wide range of industries, including the financial services, education, not for profit, manufacturing, construction and retail sectors.

Notable client work and achievements

• Appointed as joint administrator of Rowanmoor Personal Pension Limited, an FCA regulated self-invested personal pension (SIPP) operator/administration business. Having undertaken an accelerated sales process and traded in administration, a successful sale of the business to another regulated operator was completed, maintaining services to over 5,000 clients and preserving the staff's jobs
• Project Alfa (an independent school) – undertaking a short notice IBR and options review followed by an accelerated sale and marketing exercise. This resulted in the successful sale of the school’s business and assets to a new overseas proprietor outside a formal insolvency process. It meant the lender recovered its debt in full and payment in full of all unsecured creditor claims in the subsequent liquidation.
• Multiple IBRs and a further levelling up exercise for the Arts Council England on applicants to the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund – Repayable Finance (CRF), part of a £2 billion financial support package for high profile cultural organisations that were financially stable before Covid-19 but at imminent risk of failure due to the pandemic. This assisted in the provision of CRF loans to applicants to enable a transition back to financial sustainability
• Advising pension scheme trustees and the PPF on the suitability of a Company Voluntary Arrangement proposed by the sponsoring employer and maximising the return to the PPF against its s75 debt

Professional qualifications/memberships

• Licensed to act as an Insolvency Practitioner by the ICAEW
• Member of R3 trade association for the UK's insolvency and restructuring professionals