Fri, 21 Apr 2023 | ADMINISTRATION
Essex-based cladding and roofing contractor SD Samuels (Special Projects) has been acquired by its directors in a pre-pack administration. The company fell into administration in February after seeing its cashflow impacted by loss-making jobs, customers falling into liquidation and other external factors.
The firm, which has been acquired by SD Samuels Ltd, was founded in 2004 and targeted jobs valued at £750,000 and over. Among the company’s recent projects, it had been working on the construction of a new stand at Liverpool FC’s Anfield ground.
Despite reporting turnover of around £16 million in 2021, the company was impacted by Brexit, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. In an update filed at Companies House, Quantuma Advisory has said it was appointed as the firm’s administrator on February 13, securing a sale to SD Samuels Ltd on the same day for around £159,000.
Quantuma said that it was initially called in by the company in October 2022, saying: “The business suffered losses arising out of customers going into liquidation, poorly performing projects and legal fees on unpaid works.”
The advisory firm added that the company required funding “above the level available to it by its bank and neither the company nor its investors were in a position to advance the necessary funding in order to pay wages or suppliers”.
SD Samuels Ltd acquired the firm for £159,206, paying an initial £20,000 on the day of the pre-pack, with the remainder of the consideration to be paid in monthly instalments up until June 2024. Quantuma said a pre-pack was necessary as there was “no prospect of persuading new funding to allow medium-term trading to continue”.
Quantuma added: “The benefits of achieving a pre-package sale were the transfer of employees and the absence of a break in supply of goods and services, which would enable a value to be achieved for goodwill and ensure a more effective debt collection process.”
The company’s bank, HSBC, was owed £764,000 at the time of it entering administration, while HMRC was owed £433,000. Excluding HMRC and HSBC, Quantuma said that 11 companies are owed over £100,000 each, with the largest amount owed being £424,000.
285 unsecured creditors, meanwhile, are owed a total of £5.4 million. The company’s administrators have warned that most of its creditors are unlikely to have their money returned.
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