Osborne Clarke advises on liquidation of NRS healthcare

International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised on the compulsory liquidation of a major national supplier of healthcare equipment.

Special managers, from PwC, have also been appointed to enable the company to continue to trade, notwithstanding the liquidation.

NRS Healthcare is the largest supplier of equipment such as wheelchairs, hoists, specialist beds and pendants that monitor patient falls, to around 40 English local authorities which support patients discharged from hospitals, and also those in need of medical and social care support at home.

Based in Leicestershire, NRS Healthcare employed around 1,400 people.

Osborne Clarke assisted NRS in negotiations with key suppliers and once these had been exhausted, it advised on placing its key operating companies into compulsory liquidation through an expedited, out-of-hours court application.

The special managers were appointed immediately following the appointment of the Official Receiver as liquidator.

It was deemed to be in the national and public interest for the insolvency procedure to be utilised in order to achieve as smooth a transition as possible of the business and assets from NRS to new suppliers. 

The Osborne Clarke team was led by Will Gunston, partner and head of restructuring and insolvency, who has advised on several high-profile restructurings and insolvencies including Bonmarché, Carillion, The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Everest, Peacocks, Petroplus, Thomas Cook, and Wirecard.

The Osborne Clarke team also included partners Nigel Boobier and Tom Frapwell, Claire Bundy (legal director), Anna Perry (associate director), senior associates Sam Furse and Georgie Green. 

“We worked closely with the board of NRS, the company’s senior leadership team, the Official Receiver and PwC, in this complex and technical assignment. Utilising a liquidation procedure to allow the company to continue to trade for the benefit of all key stakeholders is rarely invoked, previous examples having included Carillion, British Steel and Thomas Cook.”

Will Gunston, Partner, Head of Restructuring and Insolvency, Osborne Clarke UK