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Company voluntary arrangement · 8 September 2021

O'Keefe Construction (Greenwich)

Main contractor · Sevenoaks · South East England

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What happened

O'KEEFE CONSTRUCTION (GREENWICH) LIMITED (company number 00980822), incorporated in 1970, entered company voluntary arrangement on 8 September 2021. Its status at Companies House is now: insolvency proceedings.

Why it failed

Fixed-price contracts hit by input inflation and underpricing made losses, Covid-19 delayed new work, and after a 2021 CVA supplier demands, a client's failure and no new funding forced administration.

  • Main reason: Losses on contracts
  • Cost inflation
  • Covid-19
  • Delays
  • Cash flow
  • Clients not paying or failing
  • Funding withdrawn
  • Sale or investment failed

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

The company agrees a deal with its creditors to repay some or all of its debts over time while it keeps trading.

Previously known as: O'KEEFE CONSTRUCTION LIMITED.

Timeline

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

  1. 31 May 2020

    Last accounts filed were made up to this date

    16 months later

  2. 8 September 2021

    Company voluntary arrangement started

    10 months later

  3. 14 July 2022

    Company voluntary arrangement ended

  4. 14 July 2022

    Administration started

    4 years later

  5. 22 July 2026

    Administration ended

AccountsPayment reportInsolvency

Before it failed

Key figures

Turnover in its last accounts, year to May 2020
£61.1m
Accounts at Companies House
Loss before tax, year to May 2020
£1.8m
Accounts at Companies House
Staff, year to May 2020
178
Accounts at Companies House
Net assets, year to May 2020
£10.8m
Accounts at Companies House
Owed to unsecured creditors (estimated), as at 14 July 2022
£13.2m
of which trade creditors £1.8m. HMRC owed £3.8m. a further £5.7m owed to its lenders. Expected return to unsecured creditors: about 2p in the pound (prescribed part)
Administrators' proposals

The last accounts filed were group accounts made up to 31 May 2020, 15 months before it failed.

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

Lessons learned report

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