Wylie & Bisset wins Accountant in Bankruptcy insolvency contract for record third time

Glasgow-based chartered accountant Wylie & Bisset has won a contract to deliver insolvency services on behalf of the Scottish Government – the first firm to have been awarded the contract on three consecutive occasions.

The firm was awarded the contract for Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), an executive agency of government which administers the process of personal bankruptcy and records corporate insolvencies in Scotland.

The contract, awarded following a full public procurement exercise, starts on July 1 – and runs initially for two years allowing for two optional one-year extensions, which could deliver significant savings to the public purse.

Wylie & Bisset is currently the main provider of services for AiB, handling around 60 per cent of all allocated cases and more sequestrations than any other firm in Scotland. The previous AiB contract was valued at around £13 million and W&B will be allocated 60 per cent of cases under the new contract.

Donald McKinnon, joint managing partner of Wylie & Bisset, which employs 134 people, said: “This is a tremendous achievement for Wylie & Bisset and a gives us the opportunity to build on the hard work by its staff over several years. We are delighted to be able to offer a top-quality professional service to the public sector – based on continuous improvement and consistently high standards – which will ultimately deliver savings to the taxpayer.”

Mr McKinnon said Wylie & Bisset had enjoyed working with the AiB team, which had “challenged the firm to implement robust systems and even higher standards, designed to deliver a better Insolvency Service for the people of Scotland”.

Gordon Chalmers, insolvency partner for Wylie & Bisset, added: “We have risen to the challenge and look forward to continuing our journey working closely with the AiB. We are proud to be the only firm to have won this government insolvency contract on three consecutive occasions.”

Accountant in Bankruptcy chief executive Dr Richard Dennis, said: “This is the third contract for insolvency services to be awarded by AiB and, as a result of the competitive nature of the procurement process, we have been able to secure improved fee rates and consequently better value for taxpayers.”