81(1)On the application of a creditor of a company the court may provide for the appointment of an administrator of the company to cease to have effect at a specified time.
(2)An application under this paragraph must allege an improper motive—
(a)in the case of an administrator appointed by administration order, on the part of the applicant for the order, or
(b)in any other case, on the part of the person who appointed the administrator.
(3)On an application under this paragraph the court may—
(a)adjourn the hearing conditionally or unconditionally;
(b)dismiss the application;
(c)make an interim order;
(d)make any order it thinks appropriate (whether in addition to, in consequence of or instead of the order applied for).
Cases considering Schedule B1, paragraph 81 14
[2026] EWCA Civ 1023 · 31 July 2026Limits
The court held that the creditor remedy for improper motive under paragraph 81, and the court's broad discretionary powers, do not preclude a company from seeking to establish that an appointment was ineffective from the outset for sole improper purpose. (see paras [86]-[90])
[2025] EWHC 3284 (Ch) · 17 December 2025Interprets
The court interprets paragraph 81 as involving a gateway and a discretionary stage. An improper-motive allegation must be made honestly and on reasonable grounds to open the gateway; the court must then weigh proof of motive and all relevant circumstances when deciding relief (see paras [131]-[150]).
[2024] EWHC 2948 (Ch) · 29 November 2024Defines
The court accepted that paragraph 81 requires an allegation of improper motive and confers a broad discretion. Following Aatree, it proceeded on the basis that the applicant need not first prove improper motive as a threshold condition, but dismissed the application because the allegation lacked reasonable grounds and administration’s statutory purpose was likely to be achieved. (see paras [87]-[90]; [236]-[254])
The court treated paragraph 81(2) as requiring the applicant to allege an improper motive by the person who appointed the administrator. The pleaded allegation was unsupported and was not made on reasonable grounds. (see paras [88]; [239]-[242])
The court recognised the broad remedial discretion under paragraph 81(3), but concluded that no order should be made because the alleged improper motive was unsupported and the statutory purpose of administration had a real prospect of being achieved. (see paras [88]; [236]-[254])
What each judgment says about Schedule B1, paragraph 81 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.