Steve practised as a solicitor in Leicester for a number of years. He no longer holds a current practising certificate, but now works alongside Insolvency Practitioners providing solutions to individuals and businesses.
Recent Activity
Sean Quinn had his bankruptcy in Northern Ireland annulled last week by a Belfast Appeal Court. I analyse the judgment and the implications for those seeking to go bankrupt now in the North of Ireland
If someone from another EU country wants to go bankrupt in England, they can do so but they need to establish their COMI or centre of main interest here. The Judge hearing a bankruptcy annulment application against Sean Quinn, Irelands former richest man has set out some new rules on how this must be done. Here I explain them.
If you are Irish and you have settled here in the UK for the purposes of going bankrupt you may wish to understand a little more about the process which takes place after the bankruptcy order has been made. Here I set out how the Official Receiver treats his cases
A New Year has dawned and for many it will herald a chance for a new start. In Ireland I know that many families will be facing up to another year of debt and depreciation and for lots they will be seeking to move across to the UK to set up a new life. Here I set out the process.
Pay day loans are now said to have been used by 1 miilion people in the UK. If that is true then in my opinion we have a huge debt time bomb ready to explode. This high interest lending leads in my opinion to a cycle of dependancy that benefits only the pay day lender.
Irish people are now looking in great numbers to move to England to go bankrupt, here Steve Thatcher explains why Liverpool may be a good choice.
I am often asked what expenditure can be included in a statements of affairs. Quite rightly someone going bankrupt wants to be able to include in their list of outgoings everything that they spend each month. Actually this is also very important because the Official Receiver is entitled to take any money that is deemed as surplus to an individual's requirement for the benefit of creditors.
With more people from the EU in particular Ireland and Germany coming to the UK to go bankrupt, questions are being asked on what COMI means. Here I answer some specific questions which seem to continually arise in relation to establishing a centre of main interest.
Personal Bankruptcy in Ireland takes too long and is too invasive. It sucks the economic life out of an individual and stops them participating in the economic recovery of the country. Contrast with the UK where you can be in and out of bankruptcy in a year. Is it any wonder more and more Irish people are choosing the Uk to get out of debt.
I have just returned from a trip to Dublin to meet with my partners irishbankruptcyuk.ie . It was a sobering experience as they introduced me to clients they had signed up for the bankruptcy process, solicitors who were trying to deal with ever increasing hard handed approaches from lenders and just ordinary people who are trying desperately to work out what they should do.

