David Kelly

David is a partner in the London Restructuring Team where he helps to support blue chip businesses, financiers and government clients to act rapidly and preserve value in financially stressed scenarios.

David has primarily focused on advising, leading and delivering UK and International restructuring, contingency planning and insolvency assignments for distressed situations. The days of focusing on a narrow range of stakeholders are over and his experience reflects this having supported Boards of Directors, the UK Government, Clearing Banks and High Yield Bondholders. It is not what you do that makes a difference but how you do it and David and the rest of our restructuring team believe in treating all people with respect and dignity and ensuring meaningful engagement across the widest range of parties.

His roles helping organisations to restructure and recover have been varied. While the majority of cases have been successfully restructured away from the spotlight that gets cast on formal insolvency cases, there are also instances where insolvency was chosen by the directors as the tool to deliver the restructuring outcome.

These include:

• Carillion plc and its UK and overseas subsidiaries; Lead Special Manager supporting the Official Receiver to wind down the affairs of this former FTSE100 global construction and facilities management companies which had more than 40,000 employees worldwide;
• Travelex Group; Joint Administrator for this global regulated foreign currency business where a number of the key underlying business operations were sold to a vehicle controlled by the former lenders;
• Phones 4U Group; Joint Administrator for this company which operated one of the UKs largest independent mobile phone retailers with over 600 outlets;
• OW Bunker Group; Joint Fixed Charge Receiver overseeing the insolvency of this global bunkering conglomerate which was headquartered in Denmark;
• MG Rover Group; Joint Administrator of one of the largest insolvencies of a UK automotive manufacturer;
• UK Coal; Joint Administrator of this UK based group that operated a series of underground and surface coal mines - this was the shortest administration in UK corporate history before it went into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation; and
• Lehman Brothers; Joint Administrator across a number of the insolvency estates of this global investment bank which collapsed into insolvency in the 2008 global financial crisis.

The pandemic may ease in the months to come, but businesses will continue to face significant challenges in the coming months. The future of UK business will depend on careful planning, the right support and creative foresight. Through PwC’s culture, multidisciplinary expertise, creativity and experience, our team is uniquely placed to take on these new challenges and play our part in building back a thriving business community for the long-term.