Published: 16/06/2025 By Nathan Wallis
I am a placement student from the University of Surrey studying economics and finance. I have worked as a Junior Insolvency Associate at Turpin Barker Armstrong since July 2024 as a part of the Weybridge office.I predominantly work as lead administrator on Member’s Voluntary Liquidations (MVL's) which are liquidations where the Company remains solvent and can still cover the liabilities that they owe. This is done in order to distribute funds and assets in a Company in a more tax-efficient manner.
This has provided many challenges due to the Business Asset Disposal Relief rising from 10% to 14% on 6 April 2025 causing a rush of Companies requesting an MVL in order to get as much money out of the Company before the rate increased. This caused an influx of new cases which created a large workload for a compressed time with a strict deadline. This was helpful for personal development as there was support easily available and the increased responsibility lead to faster improvement and more practice for the skills that I had been taught.
I have spent my time at the firm taking companies through the MVL proceedings while also assisting on other cases such as CVL, winding ups and bankruptcies working with other members of staff in order to experience different procedures. I have learnt skills through this such as communicating with clients and creditors, following statutory rules and corresponding with HMRC.
As well as this, working at Turpin Barker Armstrong has developed skills that can be used in all forms of work, such as time management and prioritising tasks in order to meet deadlines. This development has been helped by the staff in the Weybridge office and across the entire firm who have taken the time to train and prepare the placement year students and provide opportunities to have individual caseloads in order to get the most out of the experience which many other Companies would be unwilling to provide.
I am hoping to use my experience gained at Turpin Barker Armstrong to return after my placement year and continue my development in insolvency at the firm.