Alan Bloom, global head of restructuring at Ernst & Young, is processing a string of calls about the administration of Nortel Networks, the Canada-domiciled telecommunications equipment maker, in his usual calm fashion.

He is one of four E&Y joint administrators to the European operations – which have combined revenues of $2bn and some 5,000 employees and are being administered under UK rules, since the UK readily qualified as the Centre of Main Interest under European Union regulations.