Global mandate

“The way Bank of Scotland runs its services for Insolvency Practitioners is very appealing,” says Simon Girling, Partner, BDO Stoy Hayward. “Time is critical in insolvency situations and in this economic cycle you may get even less warning. With a shorter time horizon, reacting quickly and getting accounts set up overnight is extremely valuable.”

Simon moved his accounts to Bank of Scotland recently for this reason and has been extremely happy ever since. “It is hugely convenient for an IP to keep a relationship going with a companys former bankers and to set up an administration account to mirror what the former company enjoyed. This is exactly what the Bank is successful in doing,” he continues.

The Bank of Scotland Specialist Banking team prides itself on offering a service which is unmatched in speed and flexibility. By setting up a global mandate for companies with a number of accounts ready, once an Insolvency Practitioner is appointed, they only have to fax us one form and the account will be open within 24 hours.

“Reacting quickly and getting accounts set up overnight is extremely valuable”

“There has already been an occurrence where we required cash, literally, on day one to keep trading,” continues Simon. “We needed the account set up immediately to receive those monies so we could be up and running straight away. It was an unusual situation but it was all managed effectively and in the end the account was ready four days early.”

Simon says all email and fax queries are replied to within a day. This instant response is a feature of the Banks team. “Corporate insolvencies in the 2008 calendar year numbered 22,000. This year it is probably going to be 35-40,000, if not more. Next year it will be the same,” he states. “We are going to be very busy and will be keeping the Banks team very active at the same time.”

Simon feels that the Bank of Scotland model is ideal for helping Business Restructuring Teams through this demanding period. He also confirms that the Bank is “already thinking about the situation we are going to be facing and trying to help us. That is a compelling argument for us to be with Bank of Scotland for a long time to come.”