Claims firm saddled with £48m debts set for administration

In a statement, directors revealed that they are seeking to put the business into administration, saying it had suffered 'ongoing financial challenges and has been marketed for sale in order to secure fresh investment'. Practitioners from specialist business advisory firm FRP are the proposed administrators.

The statement added: 'Directors of the company are currently working with the proposed administrators to facilitate an acceptable outcome for clients and the company is in contact with the Solicitors Regulation Authority to ensure all standards and regulations are met. All clients will be contacted in due course and are not required to take any further action.’

The authorised alternative business structure, which trades as SSB Law and incorporates four other brands, practices in personal injury, medical negligence, data breach, business energy mis-selling and financial mis-selling claims.

It was founded in 2007 but expanded considerably after November 2021 when it acquired around 13,500 cavity wall insulation cases and a share of the unresolved mortgage mis-selling work in progress following the administration of north west firm Pure Legal.

Speaking at the time, SSB Law chief executive Jeremy Brooke said his firm was ‘determined to help thousands of people with their unresolved cases’. He stated that there were more than 200 ‘highly experienced’ solicitors and paralegals who had already helped people recover compensation since the cavity wall work was started three years previously.

The annual accounts for the year ended 30 April 2022 show the financial commitment that SSB Group took on at this time. The amounts owed to creditors within one year leapt from £2.46m to more than £48m. The business had taken on £30m of loans in the previous year and increased the amount owed to trade creditors from a five-figure sum to around £15.3m.

At the same time, the amounts owed to the company surged from £2.4m to more than £46m, leaving net assets overall of £175,000. The average number of staff, according to the accounts, had risen 43% to 162.

Earlier this month, it emerged that an expert witness had refused to act on cavity wall claims handled by SSB Law after accusing the firm of not paying him and naming him on cases without his knowledge.

The allegations were made in an email to the court sent in 2022, which stated: ‘SB Law [sic] have routinely named me on cases, often without my consent of [sic] knowledge, and/then issued instructions after the event.’ In a statement to the Gazette, director Debra Allen said the expert had later retracted all allegations and that it was accepted that payments had been made by the firm. The issue was blamed on a breakdown of the relationship between the expert and the agency whose panel he was on.

SSB Law has continued to be an active presence this year, despite its financial issues. In May it hosted its first careers open evening to discuss opportunities available at the firm. The firm has posted about its charity fundraising efforts in the past month and as recently as this week announced it had reviewed its personal mental health strategy for employees.

In the last 24 hours, several staff members have posted on social media that they are looking for new roles.