Jobs go as biomass boiler installer ‘with excellent reputation’ falls into liquidation

A South West commercial biomass boiler installation, servicing and maintenance firm that had a £4m turnover two years ago has gone into liquidation with the loss of 30 jobs.

BBSM, based in Tiverton, Devon, was founded in 2019 to supported commercial and industrial biomass heating systems throughout the UK.

It built a strong reputation for technical expertise and customer service and grew rapidly, increasing turnover to almost £4m within five years and developing a substantial customer base in the commercial and public sectors.

High-profile customers included the 77-bedroom luxury Saunton Sands Hotel in Braunton, North Devon, where it replaced a failing biomass heating system with a new 330kW wood chip boiler to provide all heat and hot water.

The firm also worked with Lime Kiln Leisure Centre in Royal Wootton Bassett and Warminster Sports Centre, where it replaced aging gas boilers at with high efficiency wood pellet boiler systems.

However, according to its directors, the company’s decline was caused by a combination of factors over the past 18 months.

These included bad debts from customer insolvencies, losses on two major projects and rising operating costs.

Cashflow also came under pressure as customers took longer to pay. Earlier this year, several significant projects were cancelled or delayed.

BBSM entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation on 1 September, when 30 employees were redundant.

Nick Harris and Lucinda Coleman, partners in the restructuring team at South West accountancy firm PKF Francis Clark, have been appointed joint liquidators.

Harris said: “BBSM had established an excellent reputation within the biomass heating sector.

“After encountering various headwinds in recent times, the directors worked hard to explore options to secure the future of the business.

“Unfortunately, it was not possible to rescue the company as a going concern and there was no alternative to liquidation in the circumstances.

“Our focus now is on realising the company’s assets for the benefit of creditors, as well as supporting former employees with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.”