Malcolm Niekirk

Malcolm Niekirk is a solicitor who began trying to keep insolvency practitioners out of trouble more than three decades ago. He joined south coast solicitors Frettens in March 2020 as a partner, to set up an insolvency team there.

He brought with him his own ‘Insolvency.Guru’ consultancy practice, a name which he had then used for a number of years during which he worked with national insolvency training organisation NTI and as a director at Peter Hall, a boutique insolvency practice. In that role he learned at first hand just how irritating solicitors can be.

Earlier in his career he was a partner heading insolvency teams, at other law firms and set up successful insolvency teams at four offices (on the south coast and in London) at those law firms. He also spent several years seconded to a bank’s recoveries department.

He qualified as an insolvency practitioner nearly thirty years ago, but with the firm intention of never taking office. So far he has succeeded, but there have been some close calls. He still tries to keep insolvency practitioners out of trouble, offering advice on specific cases and generally. He offers technical advice, drafts documents, negotiates, and helps sell stuff. He is well known as a conference speaker and offers training. His monthly online ‘coffee break briefings’ have been watched by hundreds of insolvency professionals (who surely have better things to do with their time). He sometimes represents others – creditors, company directors and debtors – involved in the insolvency process.

He also regularly accepts appointments to report, as an Evaluator, on pre-packaged, connected-party administration sales.