Peter Saville, Simon Freakley and Anne O’Keefe, partners at Zolfo Cooper, were appointed Joint Administrators over Clinton Cards Plc and its subsidiaries (Clintons), including Birthdays Retail Limited, on 9th May 2012.

Proposed changes to Scottish personal bankruptcy law could trap debtors in long-term agreements crippling them financially for years, according to insolvency trade body R3 and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).

The latest statistics from the Insolvency Service show a massive increase in the number of retailers which went into administration in the first quarter of 2012, compared with the fourth quarter of 2011, say accountants KPMG.

The number of businesses reporting signs of distress is up on the previous quarter, according to research by R3, the insolvency trade body.

RSM Tenon, the accountancy and professional services firm, predicts that 100,000 people will become insolvent this year. This will be the lowest level since 2005 when the annual insolvency figure was  67,000.

Recent figures have revealed that the rate of business insolvencies steadied in March 2012 with 0.11% of the UK’s business population failing, the same level as recorded in March 2011.

Businesses and consumers should find it easier to challenge firms they believe are acting anti-competitively, under proposals contained in a new consultation by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Official figures released by Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) reveal 4,856 personal insolvencies in Scotland in the fourth quarter of 2011-12. This represents a four percent increase on the previous quarter and a 14% increase on the same period in the previous year.

The UK Government has launched a consultation on proposals that will tighten the law on the criminal liability of partnerships and reform the law on unincorporated associations.

The Government is seeking views on proposals put forward by the Scottish Law Commission.

Reforming the criminal liability of partnerships in Scots law was suggested after the tragedy of the Rosepark nursing home fire in Lanarkshire in 2004 in which 14 residents lost their lives. The case against the care home operators failed in the courts because of a loophole which prevented the prosecution of a partnership once it had been dissolved.

The proposed change would ensure that all Scottish partnerships could be held to account if they commit crimes and prevent them escaping prosecution for potentially serious offences by dissolving.

The consultation will also look at a separate issue of attributing legal personality to non-profit making unincorporated associations where they meet certain statutory criteria.

The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB) this month secured the longest term for a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (BRO) ever recorded in Scotland - twelve years.

Indebted middle class Scots will be treated more harshly if proposed changes to bankruptcy laws are introduced, according to insolvency trade body R3, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).

The number of retailers going into administration in the first quarter of this year increased by 15% to 69, compared with 60 in the same period last year, according to research by Deloitte, the business advisory firm.

Greenleaf Global Plc (Global) in Twickenham, London has been ordered into provisional liquidation on public interest grounds in the High Court. The move follows an investigation by Company Investigations, which is part of the Insolvency Service.

The board of video games retailer The GAME Group plc announced on Monday that it had appointed Mike Jervis and Stuart Maddison of PwC as joint administrators of its UK and Ireland operations.

Electronically formed contracts have come under the spotlight as part of the Scottish Law Commission's (SLC) review into the law of contract. If approved, the reforms could have an impact on commercial contracts in Scotland.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has confirmed that WorldSpreads Limited (WorldSpreads), a spreadbetting company, has entered the Special Administration Regime (SAR). This is the third time the SAR has been initiated.

A consultation has been launched by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills on measures to give company shareholders greater influence over executive pay, through enhanced voting rights.

Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk is calling for businesses to work together and develop practical solutions in creating better cashflow management systems and changing the culture of late payments.

The Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee has published a report into Debt Management looking specifically at payday loans and commercial debt management companies. The report highlights shortcomings and areas of concern with regards to this industry and makes recommendations for future Government action.

The report highlights four main areas of ongoing concern:

1. On the regulation of Consumer Debt

The Office for National Statistics has published a statistical bulletin providing estimates on the value and numbers of mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving UK companies with values of £1.0 million or greater. Only transactions which result in a change of ultimate control of the target company are included.

Key findings of the bulletin include: