UK: UK Turnaround And Restructuring Newsletter: Certain Moves In An Uncertain World

OUR OUTLOOK

WELCOME TO THE SUMMER EDITION OF ALIXPARTNERS' UK TURNAROUND AND RESTRUCTURING UPDATE, PUBLISHING AT A TIME WHEN ECONOMIC PRESSURES ARE INTENSIFYING AROUND THE COST AND AVAILABILITY OF CAPITAL

We hear from our clients that there is much uncertainty in EMEA, and it remains unclear whether we are on brink of a sustained downturn or whether we will see a level of resilience in the markets that avoids this scenario.

Central banks and economic units are wavering as interest rate strategies - and the likelihood of further rises - reach a delicate period of consideration. It is a very difficult market to call; there is liquidity that we've seen put to work, and while lenders will typically display support for "amend and extends" within a restructuring framework, they currently don't have a strong appetite for new money.

The release of our 18th Annual Survey this month bears out this sentiment, with heightening financial constraints dominating the strongest responses in the report. This study has drawn upon the expert insight of 700 finance and restructuring professionals from around the world and the majority anticipate recessionary times in their respective regions - if they are not already in one - with the cost or availability of capital considered to be the top driver of distress. On the following pages you'll find an executive summary of the survey's findings, including personal viewpoints from our senior Turnaround & Restructuring team members in the UK and pertinent data points from the UK respondents in this year's study.

In the UK and Europe, we have continued to be busy across our entire suite of service offerings, with several large-scale business critical mandates, supporting clients across a variety of industries that continue to be significantly exposed and hit the hardest, in particular; Altnet Fibre Providers, Hospitality and Leisure, Public Utilities, Real Estate, Retail, Telecommunications and Shipbuilding.

With the continued impact of inflation on businesses, and the challenge of passing increasing costs onto consumers - inflation looks set to remain a long-standing issue for companies in distress.

Team growth in the UK

Our UK Turnaround & Restructuring division continues to grow in 2023 with a number of new hires to the team across all levels. Our award-winning internship programme is shaping the future of our restructuring practice.

Putting social mobility at its core, we actively open up employment opportunities for candidates from a range of socio-economic backgrounds through our close working relationships with leading institutions such as Generation Success and 10,000 Black Interns.

Internally, it was fantastic to get the team together at our recent EMEA Turnaround & Restructuring Conference in Barcelona - not only to discuss how we can best help clients navigate ongoing disruption, but to also connect with the wider team, and offer our much-needed support to one of the local foodbanks.

Externally, we have had the honour of showcasing how business leaders can drive change through our continued partnerships with the The Times CEO Summit and The FT Women in Business Summit.

Finally, it was great to see so many of you at our recent client party at Sushi Samba in Covent Garden. We look forward to seeing you again soon!

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