Michelle Butler MIPA MABRP

Before I start, I must stress that in no way should information on this blog be relied upon.

I am extremely aware (and concerned) at the ambiguities in the legislation, the resulting diversity in opinions and the enormous potential for getting things wrong.  I have done my best to research matters before I post an article and I have tried to make it clear where I am reporting opinions, rather than certainties.  I also add updates to older posts as and when understandings or legislation changes, but I am sure that I will not have caught them all, so you should take particular care when reading old posts.

I started blogging as Insolvency Oracle in August 2012, when I had to take an unexpected break from work to be treated for cancer. The pause turned out to be a real tonic: the last busy and stressful years as the IPA’s Head of Regulatory Standards and Monitoring had run me ragged and of course being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer forces one to reflect on life, the universe, and everything.  After a couple of months of insolvency de-tox, I became determined to keep my encyclopaedic technical/regulatory insolvency knowledge tip-top, as I realised that, if not tended to daily, it soon becomes obsolete. I started the blog to give my ongoing research another purpose whilst I was confined to home.

I first dipped my toe into self-employment in February 2013 – having been employed by small and mid-tier insolvency practices (and latterly the IPA) since 1990 – and I gradually gathered steam as a consultant, helping IPs to identify and fix compliance and process weaknesses as well as meet their RPB review responsibilities.

In April 2015, I joined two other compliance consultants to form the Compliance Alliance partnership (http://thecompliancealliance.co.uk/index.html).  Our primary focus is to support IPs through the ever-changing regulations and RPB expectations by providing up-to-date document packs, webinars, and the personal services of responses to technical queries and on-site and remote reviewing and guidance.

In addition, I am a member of R3’s General Technical Committee and in the past I have chaired, directed, and presented at R3 events such as the SPG Forum and Technical Reviews and spoken at ICAEW Roadshows.

I’m also a keen traveller and experience-gatherer. My highlights include: tornado-chasing through the mid-USA; working on conservation projects in Brazil, Kenya and Australia; night-swimming in Puerto Vallarta’s extraordinary Bioluminescent Bay; falling in love with Madagascar’s uroplatus sikorae (you’ll have to google it); and flying in tight circles around Iceland’s erupting volcano (before the ash cloud).  All photos appearing on this blog are my own.

Through everything I’ve kept up the blogging, although regrettably it is trickier now that I have so many other demands on my time. I find that there’s always more I want to write about than I have time for!

I qualified as an insolvency practitioner in 2001 and I pride myself in keeping my insolvency knowledge first-rate. However, as likely you will know from your own experiences, insolvency legislation is a capricious animal seemingly with different faces depending on one’s point of view. Any comments I make on this blog are my personal views alone and, whilst I have made efforts to ensure the accuracy and completeness of my observations, they should not be relied upon.  I would urge all readers to make independent checks on the information provided, including seeking legal advice where appropriate.