Mystery surrounds the future direction of litigation funder Therium – which backed the Bates v Post Office litigation – amid an apparent restructuring.

The Gazette understands that an unspecified number of UK jobs have been cut as part of a business reorganisation.

The Jersey-registered company said these changes were part of a strategic plan rather than a sign of financial distress. It gave no more details.

This week the ‘People’ section of Therium’s website disappeared, while the link to details of co-founder and chief investment officer Neil Purslow is currently broken. Companies House records show that Purslow and investment manager Harry Stockdale incorporated a new entity two weeks ago called Therium Capital Advisors LLP.

Purslow, formerly a solicitor with Reed Smith and Withers, sits on the board of the self-regulatory body the Association of Litigation Funders.

The sector is undergoing a period of acute uncertainty, with the twin threats of regulation and closer scrutiny of investment returns. The crisis caused by the PACCAR Supreme Court judgment, which held that funding agreements were damages-based agreements and potentially unenforceable, is also unresolved.

Therium specialises in group actions and is best known for funding the claims brought by 550 sub-postmasters against the Post Office, which settled after two trials. Group claim leader Alan Bates said there would have been no justice for victims of the Horizon scandal without a third party covering the legal costs in return for a share of the damages.