A solicitor who advises businesses in ‘commercial distress’ has replaced chief executive and founder Tom Goodhead at the helm of heavily indebted class action firm Pogust Goodhead.
Companies House was notified this week that Huw Dolphin, former head of DLA Piper’s Birmingham office and now a consultant, is a 'person with significant control' of parent company PGMBM. He holds 75% or more of the shares.
Earlier today it emerged that Tom Goodhead had been replaced as chief executive. Three new board directors have been appointed, the firm disclosed in a statement, but no mention was made of Dolphin. A separate Companies House filing shows that Tom Goodhead has relinquished significant control.
On his LinkedIn page, ‘turnaround consultant’ Dolphin describes his role as ‘helping businesses navigate issues arising in the world of corporate financial and commercial distress, to achieve positive results in what are often challenging situations’. He worked at DLA Piper for over 30 years before setting up as an independent corporate restructuring specialist.
PGMBM’s latest accounts showed that the firm had racked up net debts of more than £500m, with the auditors flagging a ‘material uncertainty’ over whether the business could continue as a going concern. However, those figures date from 2022. PGMBM’s accounts for calendar 2023 were due last September and are now over 10 months late.
In April the firm said the late filing was due to the complexities of finalising accounts for a ‘sophisticated financial structure’. Its 2023 accounts ‘will be filed in due course’, it added.
Since its foundation in 2018, SRA-regulated Pogust Goodhead has led some of the highest-profile litigation matters of recent years. These include the Volkswagen diesel emissions claim and the Mariana dam case on behalf of more than 620,000 Brazilian claimants.
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