PKF Francis Clark win national restructuring award

PKF Francis Clark’s Restructuring team has won the national award after advising on and helping deliver the accelerated administration sale of a specialist healthcare logistics business, preserving hundreds of jobs and maintaining essential patient transport services.

The team won the R3 Special Situations M&A Deal of the Year Award category for its work on the sale of BAEMS Ltd, a Bristol-based provider of non-emergency ambulance transport and high-dependency patient transfers for NHS trusts and other healthcare providers across the South.

Nick Harris and Lucinda Coleman of PKF Francis Clark were appointed joint administrators of BAEMS Ltd, with the business sold to healthcare services provider EMED through an accelerated administration sale.

The deal preserved around 315 roles, maintained key patient transport contracts and gave employees, NHS customers and funders much-needed certainty during a critical period.

BAEMS had been under severe financial strain, with an HMRC winding-up petition, tight liquidity, mounting stakeholder pressure and media interest. With patient transport services at risk, speed and control were essential, while the team also remained focused on delivering the best available outcome for creditors through a properly managed process.

Working with funders, NHS trusts, specialist agents, legal advisers and other key parties, the PKF Francis Clark team completed an accelerated sale process within one month.

Nick Harris, restructuring partner at PKF Francis Clark, who led the team, said:

“We’re delighted to have won this national award. BAEMS provided essential services relied on by NHS trusts, healthcare providers and patients, but the objective remained clear: to deliver the best available outcome for creditors while preserving continuity of service and employment wherever possible. Achieving that required pace, control and collaboration from all parties, and I’m proud of the role our team played in helping deliver it.”

The R3 Awards celebrate outstanding achievements across the UK’s restructuring, insolvency and turnaround profession.