About the Pool

The Pool is an independent body of experienced business people set up in response to a series of recommendations contained in the Teresa Graham report on pre-packaged administrations. The Pool member will provide a report on the purchase of a business and/or its assets by connected parties to a company where a pre-packaged sale is proposed (or sale within 8 weeks of administration). Only one member of the Pool will deal with an application. If viewed favourably, the Pool member will issue a response to the effect that it is not in his/her opinion unreasonable to proceed.
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Stuart Hopewell FCICM

Director of Pre-Pack Pool Ltd

Stuart Hopewell, FCICM, is a director of Pre-Pack Pool Ltd, the “directorate body” of The Pre-Pack Pool, taking up the post at its inception.

Having joined the original working party which was set up to implement The Pool in 2014, (a recommendation in The Graham Report), Stuart was appointed a director alongside Duncan Grubb.

Prior to retirement in 2016 Stuart was Credit Manager for FUJIFILM UK Ltd from 1989. Responsibilities included credit management for all Fujifilm sites in the UK and Ireland.

In 2006, Stuart was elected Chair of The Institute of Credit Management (CICM) and served in the post for 2 years. After 40 years membership with CICM he is now an Honorary Vice President.

Prior to Fujifilm, he worked in the banking sector in the 70’s (at the time of decimalisation!) and as a Credit Controller and Internal Auditor for Du Pont UK during the 80’s.

It was during his time as a Credit Manager that Stuart became involved in Insolvency matters. He represented creditors on behalf of CICM (Chartered Institute of Credit Management) on various consultancy bodies involved with the Regulation of the Insolvency profession.

He is currently serving as a lay member on the IPA’s (Insolvency Practitioners Association) Disciplinary and Appeals committee.

Duncan Grubb FCICM

Director of Pre-Pack Pool Ltd

Duncan Grubb, FCICM, is a director of Pre-Pack Pool Ltd, the “directorate body” of The Pre-Pack Pool, taking up the post at its inception.

Having joined the original working party which was set up to implement The Pool in 2014, (a recommendation in The Graham Report), Duncan was appointed a director alongside Stuart Hopewell.

A Credit Professional for over 35 years, and author of “Credit Management for Property Professionals - The Fine Art of Not Losing Money”, Duncan is director of Duncan Grubb Consultants Ltd, a company which provides advice on credit management and insolvency matters, mainly within the property sector.

From March 2001 to January 2015 Duncan was Head of Credit for Hammerson Plc, a leading commercial landlord and developer, with overall responsibility for the credit control teams operating on the company’s portfolio of Shopping Centres and Retail Parks.

He was also responsible for all aspects of credit strategy, and was directly involved in many of the high profile retail insolvencies including CVAs where he promoted landlords’ interests and in some cases helped shape the proposals in direct consultation with the CVA supervisors.

He was one of the principal instructors in the 2007 Powerhouse class action, and represented Hammerson in the A-Wear and Game litigations.

From September 2009 to January 2015 Duncan was Chairman of the British Property Federation Insolvency Committee, a group comprised of insolvency experts from major landlords, leading law firms and insolvency practitioners, which responds directly to Government consultation papers on insolvency issues, and meets with the Insolvency Service on a semi regular basis. He has taken part in speaking events on behalf of the BPF, R3, BCSC, and the property press.

Prior to joining Hammerson he occupied the position of Head of Credit at Landis & Gyr, an international supplier of telecommunications equipment and phone cards based in Geneva.

Steve Allinson LL.B(Hons). FABRP. MCICM.

Legal advisor to the Pool

Stephen is a Solicitor and Licensed Insolvency Practitioner who has specialised in business law, credit, debt, and insolvency work since 1987, and has extensive experience in dealing with the full range of these procedures. Prior to setting up his own consultancy in 2008, he was a Business Recovery and Insolvency partner at a major law firm. He currently undertakes consultancy for several legal firms as well as pursuing other projects in the legal, insolvency and credit fields, including acting as a consultant to a leading litigation funding company.

In June 2015 he was appointed as a Non-Executive Board Member of The Insolvency Service and then served as Chairman of the Board from January 2017- April 2021. Thus, he has been very involved at the heart of policy and procedure for the insolvency profession for several years. He has been the Chairman of the Joint Insolvency Examination Board which oversees the examination and appointment of new Insolvency Practitioners since 2013.

Stephen has previously collaborated on major works on both Personal and Corporate Insolvency and has written the leading textbook “Enforcement of a Judgment”. He has also written, and part collaborated in the last two years on two business and commercial law books for law students and others and which are fully utilised at the University of Law where he is also a Part Time Tutor. He published in August 2020, the first book written on the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

Pre-Pack Pool Evaluators

Dr Simon Chapman, C Dir.

Dr Simon Chapman TD, MB, FFPM has been a member of the Pre-Pack Pool since its inception. He is a Chartered Director and has been CEO, Chairman and non-executive director in two dozen UK, EU, and Australian companies.

He is a university lecturer in entrepreneurship and other business subjects, mentors board directors and invests privately in new ventures.

Philip Long, FCA..

Philip Long FCA has been a member of the Pool since its inception. He is a Chartered Accountant and was formerly head of PKF (UK) LLP Corporate Recovery and spent 35 years in the insolvency profession. He holds several advisory and trustee positions.

Philip Oatley, FCA,BA..

Philip has been a member of the Pool since its inception. He is a Chartered Accountant, active in assisting diverse businesses to achieve their goals and potential. He currently holds several Non-Executive Directorships, Chair positions and advisory roles.

Having led management through 2 pre packs he has a sound working knowledge of the process.

Philip spent 10 years as a CEO in turnaround situations, following 17 years as a commercial FD after qualifying with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells.

His sector experience includes Construction, Print, Retail, Energy, Renewables and various service companies.

Alec Sanderson, C Dir CEng CITP FIOD FBCS.

Alec Sanderson, BA, C Dir, CEng is a Chartered Director, has been a member of the Pool since its inception Chartered Engineer and Chartered IT Professional, a founder of several businesses, mentor, coach, and Director of many from start-ups to multi-nationals and a specialist in the tech sector. He also teaches for the Masters in Entrepreneurship at UCL and sits on the boards of several charities.

David Blair, FCA,MBA,MA,CF..

David Blair, MA, MBA, FCA, CF has been a member of the Pool since its inception. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse he gained extensive national and international experience within their corporate reconstruction team. He has over 30 years Board level experience as Chair, CEO, CFO and Non-Exec Director during which time he has led or advised on over 50 corporate transactions involving both public and private equity.

Len Jones, BA(Hons), FCA, MBA, MSc.

Len Jones, FCA,MBA,MSC has operated at Board level for more than thirty years in organisations ranging from SMEs to fully listed PLCs, mainly in Finance and Accounting. Currently working in Practice utilising his strong compliance background and has additional qualifications in Business Administration and Finance . Mainly involved in retail, leisure and travel sectors with turnovers up to £24 million. He has been a member of the Pre-Pack Pool since inception and has a working knowledge from his day job of the current issues facing businesses in uncertain times and is using his skills and experiences to maintain and service a current client portfolio in excess of 400 companies both large and small.

Simon Willis, BSc, MEng, CEng, C Dir. .

Simon Willis, BSc, MEng, CEng C Dir a member of the Pool since its formation has been a director of several major companies for over 30 years. He has been a Chartered Director for 10 years and a Chartered Engineer for 30 years. His experience covers construction, and engineering sectors, in Europe, North America and South Africa. Presently he is CEO of a £1Bn Building materials business. Simon specialises in business turnaround and organisational change projects.

David Abbott ,MSc, FCA, AMCT.

David Abbott, FCA, a member of the Pool since its formation, is a director operating in the public,private and third sectors, His experience includes turnarounds in the engineering, media and construction sectors, joint ventures, and asset disposals, as well as corporate reconstructions and refinancing.

He is a Chartered Accountant (FCA), previously with KPMG and is a Sloan Fellow in Strategy. He has also been a lecturer on infrastructure to The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management at UCL and on finance to the George Washington University.

David Newman, FIOD, MBA.

David Newman, FIOD, MBA has been a member of the Pool since inception. He is a Chartered Director and has previously held positions as CEO, Chair, non-executive and in executive director roles across UK & EU insurance, legal, investment & financial services companies as well as several international advisory roles. He is also a university lecturer in strategic management and an active investor in private equity and venture capital.

Colin Coghlan, MBA, FIOD .

Colin Coghlan, MBA, FIOD has been a member of the Pool since inception. He is a Chartered Director with corporate career in the energy industry in the UK and Chile followed by the wireless infrastructure and broadcasting industries culminating in a CEO role leading the turnaround and subsequent sale of a broadcasting business. Since then, he has been a non-executive director, chairman and mentor to various businesses and is an active angel investor.

Paddy Campbell, FCA.

Paddy Campbell FCA, is a Chartered Accountant and has been a member of the Pool since its inception. He is currently Chair of 2 companies and has spent the last 20 years involved in the turnaround and restructuring of underperforming businesses. Prior to that he had an executive career as Board director in companies both private and quoted. With extensive experience in the Print, Retail and Public sector.

Rod Hare FCA.

Rodney Hare , B. Bus ACA, founder member of the Pool, is a Chartered Accountant focusing on forensics with a leading law firm. He has extensive commercial experience at the director level in media and arts-related businesses. He currently holds several executive and non-executive director positions in the UK and overseas. Rod qualified with KPMG.

Tim Rose CDir.

Tim Rose MBA CDIR has been a member of the Pool since inception, participating in all the training seminars. He is a Professional Assessor for the premier director qualification ‘Chartered Director’. Tim holds several Non-Executive Directorships and Chair and turnaround advisory positions across a broad range of industry sectors. He has raised over £100m in SME finance. Tim was the lead SME technical advisor on the award winning World Bank-funded project ‘YouWiN’ -the world’s largest business plan competition awarding £150m grant funding to entrepreneurs.

Tony Wilkinson FCMA

Tony Wilkinson, FCMA, has been a member of the Pool since inception. Fully qualified Chartered Management Account; with 25 plus years experience as CFO, across a variety of organisation types, holding the responsibility for the financial management ,financial control and governance requirements of Companies. Experience includes rectifying going concern issues; covering financial re-structuring and negotiating with debt and equity funders.

Tony Sanderson FCA.

Anthony Sanderson FCA, has been a member of the Pool since inception. He is a Chartered Accountant and has previously held positions as CEO, FD, non - executive and executive director roles principally in UK trading and import and export businesses in the consumer electronics sector. Experienced in assisting struggling enterprises and helping them to face difficult decisions. He is currently a partner in a professional services firm giving financial and management support to small and medium sized enterprises principally in the not for profit sector.

Fraser Pearce

Fraser joined the Pre-Pack Pool in April 2021. Fraser is an experienced senior member of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA)
He was partner and Head of Lending in the European arm of a Joint Venture with a global US hedge fund until August 2017. Previously Senior Managing Director - Investments, at a US-owned retail and consumer products restructuring firm. He has extensive experience in the UK, European and Asian stressed and distressed restructuring across multiple sectors.

He holds positions on the independent professionals’ panel of major accountancy practices. With many years of exposure to complex acquisitions, restructurings, and divestments, holding board level executive appointments, Fraser has worked extensively in corporate insolvency and recovery disciplines, within the UK, Ireland, and German legal frameworks.

Philip Gardner FCA CDir.

Philip Gardner FCA CDir has been a member of the Pool since inception. He is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Director, having held several senior financial and general management positions. These include global multinational and international SMEs businesses involved in research and development, manufacturing and sales.

Apart from being a main board director he has been Chair of Trustees for a large defined benefit pension scheme and been involved in numerous corporate restructuring / M&A transactions.

David Lawler BSc, PhD, FCA, MAE, CFE

David joined The Pool in April 2021

David Lawler is a leading forensic and investigative accountant, based in London but working internationally. He has over 30 years’ experience in helping stakeholders understand, simplify, interpret, and respond to complex financial narratives. He retired as MD of Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps in December 2020, having previously been a leader in both boutique and international firms. He founded Lawler Consulting Ltd in January 2021.

A specialist in the activities of companies facing financial problems, he is regularly retained by boards to lead investigations and business reviews (both proactive and reactive) throughout the world. He has given expert accounting evidence to courts and tribunals on questions of profitability, value, gain, fraud, solvency, and viability in commercial disputes, financial misstatement controversies, and pre-lending and investment decisions.

Mark Parkhouse LLb (Hons)

Mark joined the Pre-Pack Pool in April 2021

Mark is a practicing solicitor who held an insolvency practitioner’s licence for over 20 years. His clients include banks, corporates and accountant insolvency practitioners. Mark acts in advisory, contentious, re-structuring and non-contentious situations.

He often advises purchasers of assets from insolvent estates, often with technology based assets. Mark has acted on numerous sales of assets for and by insolvency practitioners, in both trading and accelerated asset realisation situations.

He helps consider the commercial effectiveness of possible solutions and prepares appropriate contracts ,resolutions, charges and releases.

Mark specialises in domestic turnaround and cross-border recovery matters such as civil enforcement, fraud, misfeasance and asset tracing claims.

Mark has also assisted with major Serious Fraud Office and offshore fraud matters.

He has successfully represented parties subject to tax investigations and prosecutions.

Caroline Clark FIPA, MBA.

Caroline, who joined The Pool as an Evaluator in May 2021, is an insolvency practitioner and director of RMCSC, the uniquely respected insolvency compliance consultancy she set up in 2012 to provide high quality, independent, insolvency and anti-money laundering technical and compliance advice.

Caroline qualified as an insolvency practitioner in 1991, graduated with an MBA in 1999 and qualified as a mediator in 2015. Caroline is a fellow of R3 and the IPA.

Caroline takes an active role in the regulation of insolvency practitioners and also has had experience outside the insolvency profession including managing the accounts department of a professional firm and leading a project involving reporting to the United Nations.

Caroline has specialised in insolvency regulation and compliance since 1994 and she is well aware of the potential pitfalls involved in complex insolvency situations such as pre-pack sales in administration. Caroline has had a national responsibility for insolvency compliance and regulation for three major firms.

How do I find out more?

Please see our Q&As page for a detailed description of how the Pool works.

How do I make an application to the Pool?

If you're ready to make an application, please visit the online application form to submit your information.