Cork Gully was a leading British insolvency practice. In 2010, a new practice was established using the same name.
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W. H. Cork and Harry Gully established the firm in London as WH Cork Gully in 1935. After W. H. Cork's death and a period of wartime service, his son Kenneth Cork succeeded him as senior partner. He went on to expand the firm as a specialist insolvency practice, gaining pre-eminence in its field by the 1970s.
Sir Kenneth Cork (as he later became known) chaired the Cork Committee, whose report issued in 1982 is widely referred to as the Cork Report which led to the passing of the Insolvency Act 1986. He also served as Lord Mayor of London in 1978–79. Sir Kenneth's son Sir Roger Cork followed in his footsteps, both as a partner in Cork Gully and as Lord Mayor of London (1996–97).[1]
In 1980 Sir Kenneth Cork's successor as senior partner, Michael Jordan, led the firm into a merger with Coopers & Lybrand,[2] which continued to use the name. The Cork Gully brand was eventually discontinued in 1999 after Coopers and Lybrand itself merged with Price Waterhouse.[3][4]
The original firm's notable assignments included liquidations of Barlow Clowes and car maker De Lorean.[5]
In 2010, family member Stephen Cork established a new insolvency and restructuring firm in Mayfair using the name Cork Gully under licence. He previously headed a restructuring team at Smith and Williamson, and represents the fourth generation of his family in this field.[6]