Begbies Traynor targeting deals amid rising insolvencies

Begbies Traynor, one of the UK’s largest insolvency practitioners, has acquired Welsh recovery and insolvency practice Jones Giles & Clay. With insolvency levels high across the UK, Begbies Traynor has grown 11 per cent over the past year and is targeting expansion through strategic acquisitions and recruitment.

Jones Giles & Clay will join Manchester-headquartered Begbies Traynor’s Cardiff team, with the target company's team, including directors Sue Clay and Vaughan Jones, bringing additional insolvency expertise and increasing the Cardiff office’s capacity.

Begbies Traynor Group Executive Chairman Ric Traynor commented: “This is an important step for our practice, bringing in significant hires and increasing our capacity to work with larger clients on complex cases.”

Traynor added: “Directors, Vaughan and Susan are well respected in the local business community and by combining our teams we are creating an exciting offering for the South Wales market.”

Sue Clay said: “Begbies Traynor has established a reputation for providing a consistently high-quality offering across the UK, while retaining personal and friendly service at a local level. There has never been a more important time for businesses and individuals to have access to specialist expertise in this area, and Vaughan and I are looking forward to growing our practice with the Begbies Traynor team.”

Amid soaring demand for insolvency services, Begbies Traynor – which is reported to hold approximately an 11 per cent share of the UK administrations market – has recorded double digit annual revenue and profit growth.

The company is also forecasting further insolvencies as a result of inflation and interest rates and the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and Brexit. Earlier this year, the firm predicted that surging interest rates, combined with factors including rising labour and energy costs, would see "virtually all” of the UK’s “zombie companies” (businesses that have managed to so far avoid insolvency despite unmanageable debts) wiped out by the end of 2024.

At the time, Ric Traynor said: “Our insolvency team will benefit from their recent insolvency appointments and increased order book, together with anticipated further growth in the insolvency market.”

“We’ve seen an increase in activity for smaller companies over the last year because they tend to be the first ones that are hit when there’s a problem. We’re now moving into mid-market companies.”


Read more about rising insolvencies:

Distress set to spread to larger companies

Insolvencies on the rise at mid-sized UK SMEs

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