ICSM Credit's Ian Carrotte shocked by the mess left by defunct Bardsley
ICSM’s Ian Carrotte said it was scandalous that the Manchester building firm Bardsley Construction could go bust owing £45m to creditors.
He said: “A direct result of the insolvency has left many companies struggling. It makes me angry as the glass company Anders have now been forced into administration as a direct result. Bardsley owed Quartzetec more than a million pounds, Sunnybank Plastering £390,000 and the building engineering firm Ameon just shy of a million.”
Something had gone drastically wrong he said and the directors must have known they were facing a cash flow crisis at Christmas when they pulled the plug.
Hamish Champ writing for building said: “Bardsley had worked across a number of sectors, including hotels, leisure facilities, schools, office space and residential development. The administrators said Bardsley ran into contractual issues in late 2018 on three major projects which hit turnover to the tune of £3.2m and subsequently led to trading losses of £2.6m for the year.
“And despite new work being won in October and November last year these jobs weren’t due to start until early 2020 and the firm was hit with further cash-flow problems. Duff & Phelps said it had received a number of initial expressions of interest in the firm, which had been working on 11 projects when it went bust, but these had failed to result in firm bids.
“Duff & Phelps said it expected to raise sufficient funds to pay all preferred creditors, who are owed £220,000, and a small part of what is owed to unsecured creditors.”
Writing for North West Place Jessica Middleton-Pugh reported: “The contractor was on site with 11 design-and-build projects when it went into administration, with £11m owed, according to the report.
“Projects included Mount Yard for Far East Consortium at Meadowside in Manchester city centre; elderly care scheme Albion Mill in Blackburn for Penmaric and healthcare developer VVHC; an apartment block for Mulbury Homes on Manchester’s Blossom Street; and a construction skills centre for Tameside College.
“Not all of the contracts have been terminated, and in some cases Duff & Phelps is hiring sub-contractors to complete work.
“While £1.4m has been paid by developers to Bardsley since December, the administrators are in ongoing negotiations with certain clients, including disputes over payments in some cases.”
Ian Carrotte said this was a classic case of the mess left behind by a company that had gone into administration.
“The fact there are disputes over payment and workmanship,” he said, “suggests management was a problem. And building work due to start in the New Year is always likely to be delayed by bad weather – but the winter doesn’t seem to have been taken into consideration.
“Alarm bells rang last autumn when members raised problems over late payment. We have a lot of people in the construction industry as ICSM Credit members and Bardsley was a name that came up a lot. I urge all those in construction and allied trade to look at joining ICSM in our crusade to end late payment and prevent firms from taking a hit when clients go to the wall. For less than the cost of a tank of fuel you can get inside financial information on your clients.”
For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com on how to subscribe and to join the UK’s credit intelligence network to avoid bad debts and late payers. Follow ICSM Credit on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube and Ian Carrotte on LinkedIn.
To keep up to date subscribe to the FREE ICSM Credit Newsletter to hear all the latest insolvency news and to see who has gone out of business click on the orange panel on the top left of the home page of the website www.icsmcredit.com or send an email to Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com
For details for the work of the journalist Harry Mottram visit www.harrymottram.co.uk