The Insolvency Service

What is our Mission?

At the Insolvency Service, our principal role is to deliver economic confidence; we do this by supporting those in financial distress, tackling financial wrongdoing and maximising returns to creditors.

We provide the frameworks that deal with insolvency and the financial misconduct that sometimes accompanies or leads to it. Our aim is a corporate and personal insolvency regime which is regarded as fair and efficient, one that gives Directors and investors confidence to start and grow a business in the UK, helping to support economic growth.

What is our Structure?

We are an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade. We have c. 1,800 staff operating from 11 regional centres across Great Britain in London (Stratford), Birmingham, Cardiff, Croydon, Edinburgh, Exeter, Ipswich, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham.

This is an exciting period for the agency – over the next 12 months, we will be setting the strategic vision for the agency for the next five years. The agency has already been growing its range of responsibilities in the enforcement space, following the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, which gives the Insolvency Service new responsibilities. We are also in the process of modernising and digitising our IT systems and capabilities and over the next five years will be looking at how we can harness technology to deliver better services to our customers.

What are our responsibilities?

The Agency is responsible for a range of different insolvency, investigation and redundancy functions, working with partners across Government and with regulators and practitioners from the UK’s insolvency profession:

• Our frontline teams administer bankruptcies, debt relief orders and Breathing Space applications.
• Our investigation and legal teams investigate the affairs of companies, working to disqualify unfit directors of insolvent companies and also investigate trading companies; taking action to wind them up and/or disqualify directors if there is evidence of misconduct. We also investigate and prosecute directors where criminal offences, primarily under insolvency and company law, are identified.
• Our Official Receivers act as trustee/liquidator in bankruptcy and liquidation cases where no private sector insolvency practitioner is in place.
• Our Redundancy Payments teams are responsible for prompt issue of redundancy payments from the National Insurance Fund, providing a vital safety net to those who have lost their jobs due to the insolvency of their employer.
• Our policy and technical specialists advise Ministers and other government departments on insolvency and redundancy related issues.
• Our regulatory team oversees regulation of the UK Insolvency Profession ensuring appropriate and effective standards are in place.