Daniel Contractors had £27m debt

DANIEL Contractors failed with liabilities of £20m according to a document filed by administrators.

Insolvency partners at Deloitte in Manchester were appointed to the family-owned, Warrington-based group in May.

At the time it had nearly 1,500 staff with around two thirds laying pipes for water companies in the North West, the South West and in Wales.

A six-page statement of affairs shows that the group owed £27m, but has assets worth £7m. Trade creditors are owed £16.2m and HM Revenue & Customs has an exposure of £6.2m. A further £3m is classed as inter-company debt.

The administrators have saved 1,226 of Daniel’s 1,449 jobs. More than 1,000, who were working on contracts with Bristol Water, United Utilities and Welsh Water, have been transferred to Enterprise, May Gurney and Murphy.

Murphy also acquired the assets of the Wirral-based Land and Marine Project Engineering subsidiary, and Derbyshire-based RadiusPlus saved a further 10 jobs when it bought the Subterra division.

Close