Toby Banfield

Restructuring and Insolvency Partner, PwC United Kingdom

Toby is a partner in the London Restructuring Team focusing on working with UK businesses in some form of financial stress.

Toby works with companies and their stakeholders to plot a path through financially stressed times to secure their future viability.

“I find it very rewarding to support a business, the management team and key stakeholders through challenging times, and take great satisfaction from preserving the jobs of the employees.”

I am a licenced insolvency practitioner and I firmly believe that UK restructuring processes can be used to protect an underlying business and save jobs. Although insolvency is only a small part of my role, my skills and experiences from these situations help me develop options for businesses to understand the potential threats they face and take actions to secure their future.

Contact details

Recent work

Real Estate & construction - Joint liquidator of various companies within the ABP group which collectively hold the long leasehold interest in a development at the Royal Albert Docks in London comprising office space across 23 buildings. Expertise across other real estate roles includes residential holiday parks (administrator of various Royalelife sites), ground rent portfolios, collective living developments and global construction & facilities management groups (including liquidator of Carillion and Interserve). I have also held various appointments as a fixed charge receiver over various commercial properties across the UK.
Retail & leisure - Joint administrator of various companies within the McColls retail group, completing the sale of the business, preserving 16000 jobs, rescuing the defined benefit pension schemes and ensuring a 100p/£ return to secured and preferential creditors. Other retail experience includes Mothercare, Conviviality, Palmer & Harvey, The Sofa Workshop and Fabb Sofas, alongside confidential engagements in the leisure & hospitality, fashion & accessories and homeware sectors.
Financial services - Joint Administrator for entities within the Travelex Group, a global regulated foreign currency business. A number of the key underlying business operations were sold out of insolvency during the pandemic to a vehicle controlled by the former lenders, preserving more than 5000 jobs and various operations internationally.
Energy - Joint administrator of Pure Planet, an energy retailer, supporting the transition of over 230k UK customers to Shell Energy. I have also undertaken confidential advisory roles working in the energy from waste sector.
Other roles, both public and private, include advisory and insolvency mandates involving hotels, pub groups, housebuilders, logistics, oil and gas, agriculture and technology companies.

Area of focus

Financial Restructuring
Business Plan Reviews
Liquidity Reviews
Options Analysis
Financial Resilience
Insolvency
Administration
Liquidation
Contingency Planning
Director Duties
Stakeholder Negotiation
Restructuring Plans
Moratorium
Administrative Receivership
Fixed Charge Receivership

Credentials

TRI Corporate Rescue of the Year, Conviviality, 2018
TRI Insolvency and Rescue Rising Star, 2013

Toby is a partner in the London Restructuring Team focusing on working with UK businesses in some form of financial stress.

Toby works with companies and their stakeholders to plot a path through financially stressed times to secure their future viability.

“I find it very rewarding to support a business, the management team and key stakeholders through challenging times, and take great satisfaction from preserving the jobs of the employees.”