Administration · 14 March 2024
Surgo Construction
Main contractor · Newcastle upon Tyne · North East England
What happened
SURGO CONSTRUCTION LIMITED (company number 00235552), incorporated in 1928, entered administration on 14 March 2024. Its status at Companies House is now: liquidation.
Why it failed
A charity client stopped paying, leaving £1.4m unpaid and £1m of costs absorbed; an adjudication award and Bellway dispute then brought a winding-up petition, lost credit and withheld payments.
- Main reason: Clients not paying or failing
- Cash flow
- Legal claims
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.
Previously known as: BOWEY CONSTRUCTION LIMITED, RALPH BOWEY & SON LIMITED.
Timeline
The last accounts and payment report before the failure, then what happened, with the time between each.
31 October 2022
Last accounts filed were made up to this date
17 months later
14 March 2024
Administration started
2 years later
9 March 2026
Administration ended
9 March 2026
Creditors' voluntary liquidation started (shareholders resolved to wind up)
AccountsPayment reportInsolvency
Before it failed
Key figures
- Owed to unsecured creditors (estimated), as at 14 March 2024
- £3.3m
- HMRC owed £736k. staff owed £127k. a further £232k owed to its lenders. Expected return to unsecured creditors: none expected
- Administrators' proposals
The last accounts filed were full accounts made up to 31 October 2022, 16 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
We're writing plain-English reports on major construction failures: who was involved, why it happened, the warning signs and how long they were visible, and what to look out for next time.
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