Insolvency firms deal with high-pressure, urgent, and often emotional situations for their clients. Challenges arise quickly and consultants need to be available to resolve them.

It’s why Australian insolvency firm Cathro & Partners believes regular communication –and being transparent in that communication – is so valuable to clients.

“We aim to be as transparent as possible when there are difficult and confronting matters in the work we do because we understand there are real people involved and often high emotions to manage,” said Simon Cathro, Managing Principal and Founder of the firm.

Cathro & Partners was named winner of Best Insolvency Firm (<$30m revenue) at the 2023 Client Choice Awards. The annual awards are the only professional services awards that are judged entirely by the feedback of clients rather than industry experts or judging panels. Winning not only provides a certificate and a nice accolade – but confirmation that clients see your firm’s service as best in class.

Cathro said his firm had key strengths that helped it stand out among the increasingly competitive market of insolvency firms.

“Responsiveness, agility to clients’ needs, always aiming for the best outcome for all involved, focus on value preservation, speed of response and availability to clients,” were the strengths he identified.

Delving deeper, Cathro explained that his firm’s approach to keeping regular and transparent communication with clients helped it win against competitors.

“One of Cathro & Partners’ strengths is that we are in regular contact with our referrers when working with one of their clients. This provides a two-way opportunity to share relevant information in a timely manner and stay open to evolving our approach should the parameters of the assignment change,” he said.

More than 270 firms from across Australia and New Zealand entered the Client Choice Awards in 2023, and Beaton analysed more than 17,000 pieces of individual client feedback data to determine winners in each profession and size category. As part of this analysis, Beaton provides anonymised, benchmarked data back to firms to see broadly how they compare to competitors of a similar size and profession. Beaton also provides feedback data from the awards to see where firms like Cathro & Partners are winning client approval.

Cathro said gathering and acting on such feedback was a fundamental part of his firm’s success. He said his team was “very proud, humble and grateful” that clients gave such supportive votes and comments in the Client Choice Awards process.

“The Partners spend a lot of time and energy with staff to ensure client feedback is shared, actioned and embedded into servicing and communications practices going forward,” he said.

“This award win is industry recognition of the great team we have at Cathro & Partners. It helps clients feel confident that we will be there to help them during times of financial distress .”

Cathro & Partners was named Best Insolvency & Restructuring Firm (<$30m revenue) in the 2023 Client Choice Awards. This award is presented in partnership with FeeSynergy and with association partner Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Enter your firm for the 2024 awards here.