High Court dismisses two winding-up petitions against housebuilder

The High Court has dismissed two winding-up petitions against TopHat after the volumetric offsite house builder reached an out-of-court settlement with a developer.

District Judge Shepherd dismissed both petitions, which had been filed in July by land regeneration specialist Harworth, at the Business and Property Courts in Leeds.

Harworth had filed the petitions earlier this summer over debts accrued delivering TopHat’s planned 650,000 sq ft factory in GLP’s Corby development in Northamptonshire. Work halted on the scheme before it could be completed.

In court on 13 August, lawyers for both parties asked for dismissal of the winding-up petitions.

Harworth Estates Residential Development had filed the petitions against Derby-based TopHat Communities and its Jersey-based parent company, TopHat Enterprises.

TopHat Communities, a subsidiary of TopHat Enterprises, is responsible for deploying modules on customer sites where groundworks are needed.

TopHat, backed by Goldman Sachs, has been operating since 2016, with investors including Aviva and Persimmon contributing £200m in funding over the years.

Last week, Persimmon disclosed that it had written off its £25 million investment in TopHat, citing “a re-assessment of risks within the modular build sector.”

Since its inception, TopHat has accumulated losses of approximately £87m.