BLB Solicitors enters administration after rescue sale collapses

BLB Solicitors Limited, a regional law firm operating across southwest England, entered administration after financial pressure and the late-stage collapse of a proposed going-concern sale left the business unable to continue trading.

Gareth Buckley and Steve Elliott of The Insolvency Company, part of Sumer Group, were appointed joint administrators on 30 April 2026. The firm operated from offices in Bath, Bristol, Swindon, Almondsbury, Trowbridge and Bradford-on-Avon and provided conveyancing, litigation, private client and other legal services.

BLB’s financial performance had been relatively stable in the year ended March 2023, when it generated turnover of £4.56 million and a post-tax profit of £107,048. Profitability declined during the following year as the residential conveyancing market slowed, staffing costs increased and the firm experienced disruption from employee departures and the implementation of a new case management system.

Trading improved in the year ended March 2025, with turnover rising to £5.54 million and operating profit recovering to £502,054. The improvement reflected increased fee income from newly integrated staff, stronger conveyancing activity and efficiency gains as the new systems became established.

The recovery did not resolve the firm’s underlying cash flow constraints. Its clinical negligence department had struggled after the pandemic to recover fees at a level sufficient to cover the cost of handling long-running matters, while forecasts for the 2026 and 2027 financial years were subsequently reduced.

The firm also incurred the upfront cost of recruiting and training additional staff before those employees could generate their expected fee income. Continued uncertainty in the conveyancing market, higher employer National Insurance contributions and reduced productivity during the systems transition placed further pressure on working capital.

BLB’s directors sought insolvency advice in March after reviewing the firm’s forecasts and available funding. A sale of the business and assets was agreed in principle before the administration and was expected to preserve a substantial number of jobs, but the proposed buyer withdrew shortly before completion.

The withdrawal left insufficient time and funding to pursue another transaction. Because the administrators were not authorised solicitors, they could not continue operating the legal practice while seeking a replacement buyer under Solicitors Regulation Authority requirements. The firm ceased trading when the administrators were appointed and its workforce was made redundant.

The SRA intervened into the practice shortly after the appointment to protect client interests and appointed Stephensons Solicitors LLP as its intervention agent. Client files, wills, deeds and money held by the firm are being dealt with through the regulatory intervention process rather than by the administrators.

BLB entered administration owing approximately £2.54 million to unsecured creditors. The administrators concluded that neither rescuing the company as a going concern nor achieving a better result for creditors than liquidation remained possible following the failed sale and closure.

The administration will instead proceed under the statutory objective of realising assets for secured or preferential creditors. The administrators expect the process to last approximately 12 months, while the level of any return to unsecured creditors has not been established.