"The annual financial statement of Proddow Mackay Solicitors LLP, covering the year to October 2024, reveals more than a dozen outstanding interest-free loans between different entities operating under the same umbrella.

According to the Proddow Mackay accounts, the business owed £1.9m to PM Law Limited and £571,000 to John M Lewis & Co Limited, which had become part of the PM group in February 2023. A further £185,000 was owed to Butterworths Law Limited, with sums of between £3,500 and £37,000 owed to four other companies in the group."

Hmm. 

This is clearly sad for employed staff and clients alike.

The missing part of the headline from today's Gazette speaks volumes however insofar as the regulator is concerned: “after clients and staff were cut adrift”.

From here, how quickly will we see an “intervention” (meaning that the stable door being bolted even if the horse is gone, or just plain expired) turn into a call on the indemnity fund once investigations prove fruitless. 

Interestingly, unaudited accounts for Proddow Mackay Solicitors LLP were filed as recently as November 2025 for the year ended October 2024. In the notes to the financial statements the members considered that the LLP had "adequate resources to... continue in operational existence for the forseeable future." This, despite creditors falling due within one year of £7.581M and inter group debtors of £4.399M leading to a net deficiency of £486k. Apparently, the members of the LLP had confidence in the “continuing financial support of the LLP's bankers and related parties.” 

Three months later, apparently not.

The regulator is said to be considering a review of what it calls “accumulator” firms: those that grow by bolt-ons and mergers. Someone needs to consider how it is that the regulator's “intervention” arrives typically at this stage: too late.