Megan Boyle joined Bermans in February 2025 and is a Paralegal in our Insolvency Team.
Megan supports the team across a broad spectrum of both corporate and personal insolvency matters, encompassing a mix of contentious and non-contentious work, reflecting the diverse nature of the cases we handle.
Her experience includes assisting the solicitors with a wide range of tasks, such as:
Applications for administration extensions
Drafting winding-up petitions
Applications for the rescission of winding-up orders
Possession and sale applications
Settlement agreements
Director disqualification proceedings
Assisting with applications for permission to act as a director following disqualification
Preparing pre-action correspondence and documentation
She has an Undergraduate degree in Spanish and Business (BA) and has also completed a Law conversion course. Megan then went onto complete a Masters in law (LLM). She is currently undertaking the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE).
Outside of work Megan enjoys walking, pilates and travelling and is a Manchester City supporter.
This article looks at the grounds for director disqualification as well as the legal framework that governs these processes and what directors should do if facing disqualification, empowering directors to better navigate their responsibilities and potential challenges.
The world of insolvency has been becalmed over the last 18 months as a result of Government support and restrictions on creditor action as part of its response to the Covid 19 pandemic which removed a number of the typical pressure points on directors.
As we head into a new phase of ‘living with the virus’, the support and restrictions are being withdrawn. The furlough scheme ended and some of those restrictions expired on 30 September 2021. From 1 October, the heat was back on or at least partially. There are still some restrictions on creditor action.
On the 22 June 2021 the Government extended, perhaps for the last time, the Coronavirus Act 2020 restrictions on issuing winding up petitions until 30 September 2021 (which is also when the furlough scheme ends) and landlord forfeiture/Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery until 25 March 2022.
It was assumed that other restrictions, such as the suspension of liability for wrongful trading, would also be extended but that was not the case and that suspension ended on 30 June 2021. So from 1 July 2021 directors can be sued for wrongful trading in respect of trading after 30 June which increases the deficit to creditors.
The latest insolvency stats have just been released by the Insolvency Service and it comes as no surprise to see the figures for the past nine months have been historically low- about 40% lower than normal- as companies continue to benefit from the Government support measures and the temporary restrictions on the ability to issue statutory demands and winding up petitions.
The rise in corporate (but not personal) insolvencies in the month of December 2020 did come as a bit of a surprise. There were a total of 1,228 registered company insolvencies, which comprised of:
L-R Martin March, Phil Farrelly and James Whittaker
As we head into 2021 and the inevitable restructure of the economy as we (hopefully) return to some sort of normality, we thought it would be useful to share details about the depth of experience in our Insolvency team and to share some of their experiences during the lockdown.
Partner and Head of Insolvency, Phil Farrelly, will be known to many of you and has been with Bermans since 2005. He is a familiar face on the North West legal scene and has extensive experience of acting for insolvency practitioners, ABL and other lenders and directors in all aspects of corporate insolvency.
The team has recently been strengthened with the arrival of two experienced insolvency solicitors.
Christopher joined Bermans in September 2020 and is a Solicitor in the Insolvency team, having qualified following completion of his training contract with Bermans in 2022. He previously studied Law at the University of Liverpool.
Christopher has experience with assisting in contentious and non-contentious matters, acting for individuals, companies and IP’s.
The matters that Christopher has experience with include, but are not limited to, the following:
Advising Administrators in respect of validity of security and appointment advice;
Acting for Administrators in respect of applications to extend the term of Administration;
Acting for Trustees in Bankruptcy in respect of applications for possession and sale;
Acting for individuals in respect of disputed Bankruptcy petitions; and
Acting for Liquidators in respect of applications such as Block Transfer orders and release orders.
He lives in Cheshire and plays 7-a-side football and likes to spend time with his friends and family.
The moratorium on evictions for tenants who are behind on their rent has been extended until the end of 2020. The restriction was set to be lifted on 30th September 2020 but the secretary of state for housing, Robert Jenrick, announced an extension to give struggling retailers and other businesses a chance to “focus on rebuilding their business over the autumn and Christmas period”.
The June quarter day saw less than 20% rental payments made and with the next rent quarter day having just passed (29th September 2020) landlords will be bracing themselves for more of the same.
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) became law on 26 June 2020. It contains some temporary provisions required as a result of COVID-19 and some permanent provisions that have been in the offing for a while which will make sweeping changes to the current insolvency rules.
The Temporary Provisions
The temporary provisions are aimed at providing businesses with some relief from problems created by the current COVID-19 pandemic including the temporary suspension of wrongful trading laws and the prohibition of the use of statutory demands and winding up petitions.
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