Cheshire-based Nicholson Jones Sutton Solicitors collapses amid financial turmoil, leaving creditors with no recourse
Nicholson Jones Sutton Solicitors Limited, a firm specialising in housing disrepair claims, has fallen into administration, owing over £6 million. The Cheshire-based law firm has left unsecured creditors with no hope of recovering any money, as its assets amounted to just £159,000 at the time administrators were appointed.
The firm’s liabilities include three floating charges: £2.4 million owed to litigation funder Fenchurch Legal, £318,000 to the Royal Bank of Scotland, and £196,000 to the now-defunct VFS Legal Limited. Additionally, HM Revenue & Customs is owed £1.79 million. Despite the significant debt, administrators from RSM and DMC Recovery confirmed that no assets are available to pay unsecured creditors, who are collectively owed over £1.5 million.
Embed from Getty ImagesNicholson Jones Sutton, which had been in operation for years, specialised in housing disrepair claims and had assets of £5.2 million in its last reported accounts for the year ending September 2024. However, the firm’s downfall follows a broader crisis within the housing claims sector, where several firms, including Sandstone Legal, McDermott Smith Law, and Quanta Law, have collapsed in recent years.
While the firm is now in administration, it is understood that a new entity, NJS Law Limited, has taken over its operations. NJS Law, incorporated in 2023, is owned by Justine Sutton, a former director of Nicholson Jones Sutton, and continues to operate under her leadership. Notably, Fenchurch Legal, which had a fixed charge against NJS Law, initiated the administration proceedings.
The insolvency of Nicholson Jones Sutton highlights the ongoing struggles within the housing disrepair and claims sectors, particularly for firms in the north-west of England, many of which have faced financial instability in recent times.
