
Although the case of Anthony John Wright and Alastair Rex Massey vs. Scottish Court of Session [2024] CSOH 105 is (as the name suggests) a Scottish decision, there are several takeaways from the case relating to the content of progress reports, which could usefully be applied and followed by English practitioners when making their own application. Not least, because of the words of warning from the judge:
“It is important that administrators and their advisers bear in mind that an extension of an administration should never be applied for, or granted, as a matter of formality. It is not uncommon for the court to encounter cases where serial applications have been made, often on (literally) the same grounds from 1 year to the next, with no discernible sign of progress being made; and of course, if there is an expectation that extensions will be granted without difficulty, there is a danger that administrators will not be incentivised into completing the administration within the existing deadline, confident that another one will be along in the fullness of time“
This case concerned an application to extend an administration that had originally commenced on 19 November 2020 and had been extended on three previous occasions. The court was keen to understand what progress had been made, that creditors had been informed of the application and given a chance to object and that the extension period was the appropriate length.
Despite the warning above the judge acknowledged that this administration was complex and did not fall into that category and was prepared to take at face value the assertion that further time was required to conclude the administration, despite some misgivings about the information in the progress reports.