Savants Restructuring Limited

Savants Restructuring Limited (the “Company“), a London-based restructuring and insolvency company, entered administration on 8 October 2021. Michael Hall and Carl Jackson of Quantuma Advisory were appointed as Joint Administrators. Michael Hall has since left Quantuma Advisory and was replaced by Kelly Mitchell.

Until February 2021, the sole director of the Company was Adrian Duncan. Mr Duncan was resident in Malta from late summer 2020 to late summer 2021, at which point he is understood to have travelled elsewhere and has not been able to be contacted since.

In September 2021, Mark Goldstein and Kevin McLeod were appointed as Receivers to establish control over the Company and its bank accounts. The Receivers determined that substantial sums were missing from the Company’s bank accounts, together with significant sums due to the various insolvency estates which should have been held in separate client accounts.

The Receivers also discovered that the ICAEW were investigating Mr Duncan’s conduct and had removed his insolvency licence on 7 September 2021. Accordingly, the ICAEW made an application to Court for the block transfer of Mr Duncan’s cases to the Joint Administrators, and the Order was made on 30 September 2021.

Following their appointment, the Joint Administrators completed a forensic review to identify potential claims against parties in respect of funds diverted from the Company’s bank account. A number of transactions with the directors, connected and non-connected parties have been identified. They have also instructed agents to assist in tracing Mr Duncan. Due to the nature of the appointment, the Insolvency Service has had an ongoing involvement in the investigation process.

The Joint Administrators also carried out an initial review of the Company’s affairs in the period prior to appointment, including interviewing the company’s directors and senior employees and examining certain available records. The information gleaned from this process enabled the Joint Administrators to meet their statutory duty to submit a confidential report on the conduct of the directors to the Insolvency Service. The Joint Administrators identified a number of matters requiring further investigation, but have not disclosed further information at this time.

Solicitors from Wedlake Bell and Frettens have assisted the Joint Administrators.

The Joint Administrators’ Proposals can be found HERE, and their Progress Reports can be found HERE and HERE.