Administration appointment: what the check means

What this test checks

Looks for a Gazette notice appointing an administrator. In administration, a licensed insolvency practitioner takes control of the company to rescue it as a going concern, get a better result for creditors than an immediate winding-up, or sell its assets.

If later notices show the company moving into liquidation, the test reflects that the rescue did not succeed.

What a fail looks like

An administrator has been appointed. The company may keep trading, but every decision about contracts and payments is the administrator's, and debts from before the appointment are frozen.

Harmless explanations

• Administration is designed as a rescue, and some businesses come out of it intact, often under new ownership.

What to do

• Contact the administrator to find out whether the company will keep trading and whether your contract will be honoured.
• Watch for a pre-pack sale: the business may continue under a new company, sometimes with the same owners, while your contract and debt stay with the old one. A sale to connected people in the first eight weeks needs an independent evaluator's report.
• Submit a claim for anything owed from before the appointment.

Background: What insolvency means for a supplier.

Related tests

• LEG-001Active Insolvency Proceedings
• LEG-021Insolvency Process Classification
• LEG-018Moratorium Active
• LEG-025Creditors' Meeting Notice

Part of the test catalogue. Every check Senserity runs, with its severity and the plan it is available on.

Last reviewed 3 October 2026.