Tag: Insolvency Expert

Timothy Pope, Senior Manager at our Brisbane office shares how he got started in insolvency, what drives him, and the lessons he’s learned along the way.

Like many of my colleagues, I didn’t set out to work in insolvency; I fell into it. During my tertiary studies, it wasn’t something I had considered or even knew much about.
I’d attended a lecture or two on the Corporations Act and read the occasional article in the paper, but it wasn’t on my radar as a career path.
The opportunity came up at a national firm in Brisbane while I was still completing my degree, and I seized it with both hands. I thought, “That sounds interesting, I’d like to learn more.”
I quickly found the work both rewarding and challenging, and I’ve never looked back. Eight and a half years later, I must be doing something right!

The achievements I’m most proud of are the successful restructuring turnarounds.

While some businesses inevitably close, the most rewarding outcomes are those where we manage to save them.

When we can help a business continue trading, implement a deed of company arrangement, and preserve jobs, customer relationships, and a tax-paying entity, it’s incredibly satisfying. The alternative, of course, is a full-scale shutdown.

There’s often a misconception, fuelled by the media, that insolvency practitioners are only there to shut down businesses, fire staff, and strip companies bare. What many people don’t see is the work that goes into turning a business around.

That’s where I believe my most significant professional impact lies and where I find the most meaning in my work.

What’s something you’ve learned from a colleague that’s made you better at your job?

A piece of advice from a former mentor has stayed with me: “Stay firm on the facts, but go easy on the people.”
Insolvency work often means dealing with highly emotional situations, some of the most stressful moments in people’s lives. No one starts a business intending to fail. Most people I’ve worked with have experienced something going wrong, such as overextending themselves or being blindsided by events like COVID-19.

Earlier in my career, I focused too much on the technical side, on what people had done wrong. But I’ve learned to consider the human side as well.

Watching how my mentor navigated tough conversations with directors, staff, and even spouses who sometimes called in, taught me a great deal. It’s something I try to carry forward in my conversations with business stakeholders today.

What is a book or podcast that’s influenced you most recently?

I’m not really a book or podcast person.

For me, film and television are more of an escape than a source of inspiration. Lately, we’ve been watching Department Q, which is fantastic. One Day was also great. There was also an Australian crime series on Netflix called Survivors, a great way to decompress after a long day.

I also try to watch as much AFL as I possibly can. And, though it’s a little embarrassing, my guilty pleasure is the reality TV show Below Deck. It’s entirely over the top, but it’s perfect for switching off… lol.

Meet Neil, our experienced insolvency specialist who brings real-world business experience to help struggling business owners navigate financial challenges.

 I was driven by a desire to help people who are struggling financially, particularly business owners. My dad had his own businesses that, for the most part, struggled and eventually failed. That experience really stayed with me. I wanted to find a way to support others going through similar challenges. Ideally, to help turn things around before it’s too late or, if not, to help them get through the process as quickly and painlessly as possible.

I came to accounting quite late. I didn’t start university until I was 27 and didn’t get my first accounting job until I was 32. Before that, I worked in factory jobs and construction and later moved into hospitality, doing everything from washing dishes to managing restaurants and bars. That hands-on, frontline experience gave me a solid understanding of how businesses operate and how financial stress affects real people.

Eventually, I moved into business advisory and found my feet in insolvency. It felt like a natural progression, combining practical experience with a genuine desire to help. That real-world perspective has really stood me in good stead.

Passing my Registered Liquidator exams. I’m now on track to become a liquidator and just need to submit my application.

Once you discovered insolvency, was becoming a liquidator always the goal?

Yes. Once I understood what the work involved and how it operated, it really clicked for me.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

People are usually stressed, emotional, and overwhelmed when they come in. Some don’t fully understand the severity of their situation, and others know exactly how bad it is, which makes them even more anxious. The most rewarding part is helping them find a path forward. Often, there’s a moment of relief when they realise things aren’t as hopeless as they feared. Or even if it is bad, they have options. That shift, where you can see the relief wash over their face, is incredibly satisfying. And many of them say it out loud too. That means a lot.

What’s something you’ve learned from a colleague that’s made you better at your job?

Listening more than you talk. That’s number one. And really paying attention not just to what people say, but also to what they don’t say. You can learn a lot about their situation or their business by picking up on the gaps. Then you gently ask the right questions to get to the heart of it.

Sometimes, people just need to vent before they’re ready to deal with the real issues. Letting them speak, giving them that space, is important. I’ve learned how to do that better over time.

How have you developed that skill of knowing when to listen and when to speak?

It’s definitely been a process. A lot of it comes from experience. As I mentioned earlier, I worked in hospitality for years, everything from back-of-house to managing front-of-house. That taught me a lot about reading people, staying calm, and not taking things personally. You learn to listen without reacting, to stay focused, to be empathetic, but still get your point across. It’s a skill; like any skill, it improves with practice.

Has anything recently influenced your approach to work or life, such as a book, podcast, or something else?

Yes, a book called Unf#ck Your Brain* by Faith G Harper. I read it last year and found it really useful. It offered great advice on how to deal with other people, manage yourself, and navigate personal relationships. The insights really stuck with me and I’ve definitely been applying them in work and personal life.

It spins back to university days. We had one elective, an insolvency law elective, and the professor was quite an eccentric sort of guy. A lot of people wanted to take his course because he made it really interesting and had a quirky side, too. So I did that, as part of my Commerce/Law degree.

Straight out of university, I took the traditional route and worked in a law firm. While I was there, I realised that while I enjoyed the work, it wasn’t really my niche.

So, I decided to do straight accounting in business services, and found that wasn’t really for me either. Then I thought, what’s something that can mix a bit of column A and column B? And that’s where I found insolvency. I also remembered my experience of that insolvency course, and I guess you could say I found my calling.

I’ve been in insolvency since 2009, so almost 16 years now, and I still find it interesting. You learn something new every day.

By working in business services before entering insolvency, I’ve learnt to appreciate that everyone has a story. Divorces, family deaths, and other factors can affect the numbers on a page, but sometimes, they just don’t get explored.

Insolvency allows you to get to know a person’s story. You get a complete, rounded picture of their scenario, not just the numbers on a page.

What professional achievement are you most proud of?

One of the more rewarding matters I worked on was a business trading profitably with approximately 40 staff, but it was crippled by COVID debt.

The landlord’s debt hindered the business operations as they tried to service it, limiting them from undertaking new projects that would expand the business.

We put them through a small business restructure. While they had to pay a portion of the debt back, it allowed them to free themselves from that legacy debt and push off and expand their operation.

Now they have 80 staff and tripled their turnover, all because of a simple process that we implemented through a small business restructure.

The landlord is also better off because they are now leasing more space from them. While the restructuring process was a hard pill to swallow, the outcome benefited all parties, not just the client we were working with.

That’s one of the more recent matters that I’ve been quite proud of because you’re not just hurting a lot of creditors to benefit one party. The restructure benefited all parties.

The insolvency process is not there to punish a particular party. It’s there to draw a line in the sand, move forward, allow everyone to know where they stand, and move on with life instead of keeping the ghosts of the past alive.

What have you learned from a colleague that’s made you better at your job?

Going back to what we were discussing, and this is from one of my original bosses, numbers on a page are one thing, but understanding the story behind them is another. You’ve got to take it all in. You can’t just decide based on one particular set of circumstances.

I listen to the client, am empathetic, and do not necessarily judge someone too quickly. Everyone’s got their story. Sometimes, by speaking to the person and understanding their scenario, something that might seem so insignificant to them could be the game-changer. That “insignificant” piece of information they divulge because of the time spent getting to know their scenario is the piece of the puzzle that you need.

What is a book or podcast that’s influenced you most recently?

This was the question I was actually dreading the most!

With two boys, three and five, life is hectic at the best of times, and sometimes their social calendar dictates mine. I spend a lot of time in the car, typically with kids, so I can tell you every Wiggle song!

I used to be fascinated by the storylines in Boston Legal, but that was a long time ago. To be honest, with two kids, I don’t have much time for podcasts or books at the moment.

I’ve always been pretty good with numbers. At school, I probably would have ended up in either engineering, accounting, or economics. It was always going to head that way.

When I was in Year 11, the biggest employer in my hometown in the Riverina, a massive canning factory called Letona went under. Hundreds of people lost their jobs, friends had to move away, and there was a lot of disruption. It really got me thinking: why do companies fail? What could have been done to stop it?

Around the same time, my dad was made redundant too, which pushed me even more toward using my skills to help businesses.

I went to university to study accounting, took up an insolvency law elective in second year, and thought, “this is fate.” I also started working part-time with Woodgate and Co in Sydney, and the rest is history.

What professional achievement are you most proud of?

I think there are small proud moments along the way, you need those to keep going. But purely personally, it was the day I hung out my own shingle.

At about 35, I had my liquidator license, had just moved to Brisbane, and didn’t have much of a network. In January 2014, I started my own little practice, TJP Advisory. It was humbling, terrifying, exciting, all of it. I’ve still got a photo of me in front of my first sign, in a suit, hanging my certificates on the wall. Even put magazines out in the waiting room, even though no one came in! But it was a leap of faith I’m really proud of.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?

Apart from my woodwork teacher’s classic “measure twice, cut once,” it’s something one of my first bosses told me: do a good job, a diligent job, and the work will keep coming.

It’s not about flashy sales tactics. It’s about doing the hard yards and building a strong reputation for doing good work. That’s pretty much how I’ve approached my career.  

What’s the most rewarding part of your work?

Turning businesses around.

Helping a business complete a small business restructure or a deed of company arrangement, saving jobs, keeping businesses alive, that’s incredibly rewarding. Even if the outcome isn’t always perfect, sometimes just lifting the burden from directors and helping them sleep at night again is a big win. Stress affects everything your health, marriage, family life, so being able to help relieve that is something I’m really proud of.

Are there any books or podcasts that have influenced you recently?

I’ll be straight up! I don’t do podcasts or inspirational books much. I’ve never really been into that mentor stuff either.

When I read, it’s usually fiction for escapism. I love the Jack Reacher or Harry Bosch type characters who are righteous but sometimes operate on the edge. It probably helps me relax more than anything and lets me do my job better.