Restructuring Plans Post-Petrofac – How Do You Make A Waldorf Salad?

In a well-known episode of the comedy "Fawlty Towers", hotel boss Basil Fawlty was frustrated. A guest had asked for a Waldorf salad. Basil had no idea how to make such a dish, and his attempts to do so were criticised by the guest.

On 19 August 2025, Mr Justice Hildyard gave judgment declining to sanction the restructuring plan proposed by Waldorf Production UK plc. He held the plan company had failed to establish that the plan that it had proposed was fair to its out of the money creditors. In contrast to the hapless Mr Fawlty, the plan company had believed that it knew the correct recipe for a restructuring plan. However, it turned out that, following the Court of Appeal's decisions in Thames Water and Petrofac, its recipe was out of date.