Make Money Online
Ardmore
Less than 10 per cent of the money Ardmore Construction owes its supply chain is likely to be repaid, the collapsed contractor’s administrators have said.
The firm owes £30m to 1,341 firms as unsecured creditors, administrators from Begbies Traynor revealed in a statement of affairs form filed with Companies House last week.
But only £2.8m – Ardmore Construction’s cash at hand balance when it went into administration at the end of August – is available to repay creditors, their report added.
Ardmore Construction employed 244 staff in its most recent accounts for the year to 30 September 2023, but none remained employed upon administration, meaning no preferential claims from staff, according to the administrators.
Secondary preferential creditor HMRC is expected to receive almost £148,000.
This leaves just £2.7m for the supply chain – or 9 per cent of the £30m it is owed.
The biggest individual creditor is Ardmore Group development arm Byrne Estates, whose Byrne Estates (Chatham) entity is owed £6.3m.
Other Ardmore Group firms are owed £3.8m.
Firms owed more than £250,000 include envelope SME Landmark Facades Limited (£832,041) and three MEP specialists: Kane Group Building Services (£658,186), Eltrade Electrical Ltd (£420,605), and JD Geerings Plumb & Heat Limited (£284,711).
In addition the Construction Industry Training Board is owed £341,739, according to the statement of affairs.
Ardmore Construction stopped taking on new construction contracts in 2023.
The firm fell into administration one day after a retentions creditor hit it with a winding-up order, although other Ardmore Group companies are continuing to trade.
Last month, the administrators said that subcontractors would be liable for up to £204m in potential cladding claims against Ardmore Construction.
Construction News reported at the time that Begbies Traynor intends to extend the administration beyond the standard 12-month period.
The administators said Ardmore Construction requires protection from legal action for the “foreseeable future”.
