Priorygate Limited (03642819): administration
- Status
- Administration ended
- Administration began
- 2017-11-03
- Administrators' firm
- MR P McDaid of Abbey Accountants
- Formerly
- Withey Specialist Services Limited; C J Smith (Southern) Limited
- Incorporated
- 1998-10-01
- Location
- Ilford
- Industry
- 41100 Development of building projects
Why it went into administration
- Loss-making contracts / project overruns
From the administrators' statement
The company was incorporated on 1 October 1998 and commenced trading shortly thereafter with its principal business activity being general construction work including new builds, extensions, refurbishments and fit outs. The business utilised the knowledge and contacts of Mr David Curran who purchased the Company through a management buyout from The Withey Group in March 2001. The Company traded from leasehold offices in Dunstable, Bedfordshire and utilised a team of subcontractors to work on contracts predominantly in the South East.
Unfortunately, over the last year the company’s profitability has declined as certain contracts have encountered difficulties. The directors believe these difficulties can be traced back to the insolvency on a timber frame subcontractor in 2016, which caused substantial delays resulting in a loss on the project of almost £200,000. In 2017 the company encountered difficulties on other contracts which resulted in cost overruns and substantial delays in receiving payments. An additional setback for the Company was the delay in starting new contracts which would have contributed to overall profitability. This put further pressure on cashflow which resulted in reduced payments being made to subcontractors and trade suppliers which thereby slowed progress on certain contracts.
In October 2017 a customer instructed their bank to stop payment on a final account settlement for £85,000. Due to certain supplier accounts exceeding normal payment terms, debt collectors were threatening the Company and some key suppliers suspended supply. At this point the directors consulted Carter Clark to advise on the insolvency options available to the company. The directors believed that, given the state of completion on various contracts, a better realisation would be available for creditors if the Company was immediately placed in Administration. A notice of the Directors intention to appoint an Administrator, which provided a moratorium against any action against the Company, was filed in High Court of Justice on 23 October 2017
Administrators' statement of proposals (2017-12-21) · Companies House register