Armstrong Loan Notes: Transfers, Disappearing Companies, and a CVL

Loan note holders tied to Armstrong Infrastructure & Property Finance (AIPF) and Armstrong Bridging International (ABI) now face a deeply troubling reality. Redemption dates have come and gone without payment. Liquidity, the cash needed to repay investors, has run dry. And on 23rd September 2025, Armstrong Bridging International Ltd admitted defeat and placed itself into a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL). In simple terms: the directors accepted the company cannot pay its debts. Hence, liquidators have been called in.

Isolvency & Law has blogged previously on the Armstrong companies, which can be read here.  In this blog we provide an update.

A Web of Transfers

Meanwhile, Armstrong’s corporate shell game continues. In August 2025, according to press reports, Armstrong shifted its solar asset management business into Rivington Energy. This is now part-owned by Federated Hermes. To the outside eye, the staff and branding may look the same. However, Armstrong’s identity has all but vanished. Its once-busy website, armstrongcapital.co.uk, has been scrubbed. Now, investors are chasing companies that seem to barely exist online.

Was this simply a legitimate restructuring, or a calculated disappearing act, executed just in time to distance directors from the Armstrong brand before its collapse?

Financial Red Flags

The cracks in Armstrong Bridging International (ABI) were visible long before liquidation. In its 2024 accounts, directors admitted the company could not meet its liabilities as they fell due. This is the textbook definition of insolvency. The accounts flagged an estimated shortfall of more than £20 million.

Even Armstrong’s own brokers conceded the bleak outlook. In plain terms: “There is little value within the company to return the ABI loan note.” When the people selling the investment admit the cupboard is bare, it raises serious questions. How long did directors know the business was in trouble? Why weren’t investors told sooner?

The Vanishing Director’s History

Then there’s Andrew Newman. Today, Newman is front and centre at Rivington Energy, the company that absorbed Armstrong’s solar operations. But his carefully polished biography makes no mention of his past role as co-founder of Armstrong Capital.

This is strange, because archived Armstrong websites clearly listed him in that position. The fact that his Armstrong involvement has been scrubbed from his new profile looks less like an oversight and more like a deliberate choice.

Why erase history? If Armstrong was a success story, you’d expect it to feature prominently on a CV. Instead, while loan note holders face potential millions in losses, one of the founding figures seems eager to distance himself from the Armstrong name. For creditors, that disappearance should ring alarm bells.

The Security Trustee Mirage

Investors in Armstrong were repeatedly told their money was “protected” because Loan Note Debentures Ltd acted as the security trustee. That title carries weight, but what did it actually mean in practice?

On closer inspection, not much. This supposed trustee:

• Files only micro-entity accounts, offering the bare minimum of financial information.
• Has no online presence– no website, no reports, no sign of real infrastructure.
• Is not FCA-regulated, leaving investors without the safety net of proper oversight.

If a trustee is meant to be the referee in the match, Loan Note Debentures Ltd looks more like a ghost referee. They were invisible when the game turned dirty. Crucially, there is no record of the company enforcing security or intervening when Armstrong started missing redemptions and defaulting on obligations.

For loan note holders, the message is stark: the “protection” you were promised may never have been real. It’s the classic mirage- you’re told there’s water ahead, but when you get there, you’re left with sand.

Armstrong’s Next Move: Liquidation

The collapse is no longer theoretical. Armstrong Bridging International Ltd has already entered Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL). It is widely expected that Armstrong Infrastructure & Property Finance Ltd will soon follow.

At first glance, CVL can sound like a formal, controlled way to wrap things up. But in practice, it’s often used by directors as a way to draw a line under their debts. They quietly close the door on creditors while they shift operations, assets, and even staff into new vehicles.

The pattern is clear:

• Redemption dates missed.
• Liquidity gone.
• Assets transferred elsewhere.
• Investors left chasing empty shells.

Unless creditors act decisively, Armstrong’s use of CVL risks leaving loan note holders with nothing more than paper claims. Meanwhile, directors may continue trading under different branding, free of old obligations.

For investors, this isn’t just about Armstrong. It’s about recognising a playbook seen in other failed schemes like the 79th Group and High Street Group, where trustees did little, assets slipped away, and creditors were left at the back of the queue.

Next Steps

If you hold loan notes with Armstrong Bridging Finance Ltd, the official contact for the liquidation is:

Michael Durkan of Durkan Cahill
Suite G2 Montpellier House,
Montpellier Drive,
Cheltenham GL50 1TY
Tel: 01242 250811
Email: enquiries@durkancahill.com

But simply knowing the liquidator’s details is not enough. Experience shows that unless creditors are organised and vocal, liquidations often end up being dominated by directors and professionals. Not by the people who have lost the most.

That’s why Insolvency & Law is launching further investigation into Armstrong and its associated companies. If you’ve invested funds in any Armstrong-branded loan notes, now is the time to step forward. By sharing your information confidentially, you help build a clearer picture of what happened. You also help determine where assets may have gone and what recovery routes exist.

 Contact us at investigations@insolvencyandlaw.co.uk to confidentially share your case or register your interest in coordinated creditor action.

Final Word

The warning signs could not be clearer: disappearing websites, assets transferred out, loan note redemptions missed, and directors re-emerging under shiny new brands. We have seen this playbook before in collapses like the 79th Group and High Street Group. The result is always the same: investors left high and dry unless they act together.

This is your money. This is your chance to demand accountability. You can shine a light on what really happened and push for a process that puts creditors, not directors, in control.

Disclaimer: Insolvency & Law Ltd does not act as a firm of solicitors or as licensed insolvency practitioners. We do not carry out any regulated activities as defined under the Legal Services Act 2007 or the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. All information and commentary concerning Armstrong Capital and related companies, including that published via our blogs and podcasts, is made available free of charge for informational and educational purposes only. It should not be regarded as legal or investment advice.

In suitable circumstances, I&L may take legal assignment of loan notes issued by companies. They may act in its own name and at its own cost and risk to pursue enforcement and recovery. Loan note holders assigning claims to I&L are not exposed to the cost of such action.