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Administration · 3 May 2018

Herbert H.drew & SON

Housebuilder · New Milton · South East England

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What happened

HERBERT H.DREW & SON LIMITED (company number 00489545), incorporated in 1950, entered administration on 3 May 2018. Its status at Companies House is now: liquidation.

Why it failed

Contracts reported as profitable were not hitting margins and subcontractor liabilities were understated; contract delays, a lost tender, a £1m hospice claim and failed refinancing left it cash negative.

  • Main reason: Losses on contracts
  • Accounting irregularities
  • Delays
  • Legal claims
  • Funding withdrawn
  • Cash flow

Our summary of the reasons given in the administrators' proposals. These record the administrators' and directors' account of what happened.

An administrator, a licensed insolvency practitioner, takes control of the company to try to rescue it, sell the business or get a better result for creditors than a liquidation.

Timeline

The last accounts and payment report before the failure, then what happened, with the time between each.

  1. 30 September 2016

    Last accounts filed were made up to this date

    20 months later

  2. 3 May 2018

    Administration started

    12 months later

  3. 21 May 2019

    Administration ended

  4. 21 May 2019

    Creditors' voluntary liquidation started (shareholders resolved to wind up)

AccountsPayment reportInsolvency

Before it failed

Key figures

Turnover in its last accounts, year to Sept 2016
£15.4m
Accounts at Companies House
Profit before tax, year to Sept 2016
£307k
Accounts at Companies House
Net assets, year to Sept 2016
£1.5m
Accounts at Companies House
Owed to unsecured creditors (estimated), as at 3 May 2018
£6.0m
of which trade creditors £948k. HMRC owed £373k. a further £231k owed to its lenders. Expected return to unsecured creditors: about 10p to 20p in the pound
Administrators' proposals
Staff when it failed, Administrators' proposals
69
Administrators' proposals

The last accounts filed were full accounts made up to 30 September 2016, 19 months before it went into administration.

The full filing history, including any late filings, charges and director changes, is on Companies House.

Lessons learned report

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In the news

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