HKR Manchester bought for £13,750
THE Manchester office of the accountancy firm HKR had debts of £276,000 when administrators were called in in September.
A creditors’ report, by administrators Colin Burke and Gary Corbett from the Hale accountancy firm Milner Boardman & Partners, shows the firm was owed £342,000 by clients, but a large proportion of this has been written off.
The administrators only expect to recover £85,000 in a “best case” scenario underlining the problems HKR faced due to its exposure to the struggling construction sector.
They sold the firm’s assets and work in progress for just £13,750 to directors Jon Matthews and Philip Doyle who have set up in business as 5plus Architects. The administrators said the quick sale preserved existing debts owed to the company and avoided the possibility of client claims.
HKR was set up in 2005 with a £1m loan from its parent, Dublin-based HKR Group, and grew to employ 15 staff. In the year to January 2009, when confidence in the construction market vanished, pre-tax profits fell 85% to £11,000 on sales of £1.8m, down 17%.
The report says the firm, which worked on Argent’s The Hive in Manchester, attempted to diversify and sought new work overseas as well as in the aviation sector but these efforts were unsuccessful. With no extra funds available from HKR Group the directors decided to put the firm into administration.
HKR had repaid the start-up loan and had no secured debts. It owed HM Revenue & Customs £81,000 and the parent company £77,000. The balance of £118,000 is owed to trade creditors who should receive 5p in the pound.
