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Administration · 18 October 2023

James Killelea & Company

Specialist trade · Rossendale · North West England

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What happened

JAMES KILLELEA & COMPANY LIMITED (company number 00983502), incorporated in 1970, entered administration on 18 October 2023. Its status at Companies House is now: dissolved.

Why it failed

Lower turnover through the pandemic and a £1.4m debtor refusing payment in 2022 strained cash flow, and parent Lonsdale, which had funded wages, could not keep providing funds.

  • Main reason: Clients not paying or failing
  • Cash flow
  • Covid-19
  • Funding withdrawn
  • Group company failed

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. 31 May 2022

    Last accounts filed were made up to this date

    17 months later

  2. 18 October 2023

    Administration started

    2 years later

  3. 21 October 2025

    Administration ended

AccountsPayment reportInsolvency

Before it failed

Key figures

Turnover in its last accounts, year to May 2022
£11.4m
Accounts at Companies House
Loss before tax, year to May 2022
£772k
Accounts at Companies House
Staff, year to May 2022
92
Accounts at Companies House
Net liabilities, year to May 2022
£892k
Accounts at Companies House
Owed to unsecured creditors (estimated), as at 18 October 2023
£2.2m
of which trade creditors £976k. HMRC owed £124k. staff owed £1.2m. Expected return to unsecured creditors: none expected
Administrators' proposals

The last accounts filed were full accounts made up to 31 May 2022, 17 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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