Call the administrator
More than the undertakers of the business world, maybe they're the real Rainmakers. Sheryl Moore weighs up a misunderstood profession that is much in demand
Hello Rainmakers,
The start of 2026 has delivered a familiar headache for UK businesses: a fresh wave of insolvencies and companies sliding into administration. It’s the domino effect at work - rising interest rates tip the first tile, squeezed consumer spending knocks over the next, and lingering supply chain pressures push many more over the edge. Little wonder administrators are busier than ever, managing the fallout.
Yet despite their growing role and undeniable economic impact, administrators rarely make the headlines. Sheryl Moore asks whether they are the unsung heroes propping up distressed businesses behind the scenes, or simply the firefighters called in when it’s all gone wrong. Either way, in an era of economic uncertainty and rising insolvencies, perhaps it’s time they received a little more credit.
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The job-saving power of administration is hard to ignore. From 200 modular construction roles at Wakefield-based Thurston to hundreds of jobs at Keighley-headquartered packaging firm, PFF Group, administrators have delivered results that outright liquidation or corporate inertia would have destroyed.
Yet the very invisibility of their work - conducted behind closed doors, buried in statutory reports and creditor meetings - means administrators rarely attract the same “dealmaker” accolades lavished on corporate finance teams.
Administrators are often portrayed as the people who close companies and, for years, were viewed as ‘the undertakers’ of the corporate world. But a recent run of cases suggests a more accurate description: they are the ones who decide which businesses live to fight another day and how they do it.
For the broader business community, administrators are no longer niche actors but central figures in corporate life cycles. Their role bridges legal complexity, commercial acumen and crisis judgment. While their work may lack the glamour of their M&A counterparts, their impact on jobs, supply chains and creditor outcomes is profound.
Arguably, they are the real rainmakers, just of a different ilk: less about expansion; more about preservation, optimisation and often a last roll of the dice.
At its heart, administration is not corporate failure dressed up in legal jargon. It is a legally sanctioned rescue and restructuring tool for businesses in severe financial distress. When a company can no longer pay its debts as they fall due - or faces imminent insolvency - its directors, or sometimes its creditors, can appoint licensed insolvency practitioners as administrators under the Insolvency Act 1986.
From that moment, control shifts. Directors step aside. Administrators take the reins, bound by statute to pursue one of three outcomes: rescue the business as a going concern; achieve a better result for creditors than immediate liquidation would deliver; or realise assets where rescue is no longer viable. That statutory hierarchy is what sets administration apart from conventional dealmaking, where the overriding objective is maximising value for shareholders or investors.
Compare this with a traditional merger or acquisition. In M&A, advisers, bankers, private equity firms and strategic buyers engage in a carefully choreographed process driven by strategic fit, forecast synergies and negotiated terms. Due diligence can run for months. Warranties and indemnities are meticulously drafted. Regulatory hurdles are anticipated well in advance. Crucially, the parties control both the timetable and the narrative.
