Since the last recession the language of insolvency has changed. Instead of being ‘wound up’ or ‘put down’, troubled companies have ‘workouts’. Instead of ‘receivership’ there is ‘administration’.
This is all part of the much-feted rescue culture, a relatively recent US import that has become insolvency orthodoxy over the last few years.
But times have been good. While the economy is buoyant, it is easier for creditors to take a more generous and long-term attitude towards debt. Banks can afford to negotiate their terms and only take formal action as a last resort.
