Claims at collapsed construction giant rocket to more than £300m
Administrators of the Buckingham Group have revealed that claims against the collapsed firm could rise to £302.2m.
The construction firm fell into administration in September 2023, making 446 staff redundant after the group failed to find buyers for building, civil engineering, demolition, major projects and sport and leisure operations across the UK.
In an administrator’s progress report released on October 3, Grant Thornton (GT) now says it has so far received claims of £266.2m from 682 unsecured creditors and anticipates a further £36m of claims from 709 creditors. GT believes it is unlikely that unsecured creditors will receive any money owed to them.
This figure is expected to rise, as employment tribunals are currently in progress after being brought forward by former employees.
HMRC, which is classed as a secondary creditor, has submitted a claim for just under £34m, being £31m for VAT and £2.4m for PAYE arrears. Administrators believe a distribution will be made to HMRC, but the amount will be driven by debt realisations.
Midlands businesses were amongst those hit hardest by the news with Birmingham-based Tarmac Cement and Lime owed £2.8m and Walsall’s Fortel Services owed £1.9m. The group was also set to work on Birmingham City’s Tilton and Kop stands as well as Liverpool FC’s £80m Anfield Road stand extension.
The group’s rail assets and its HS2 contract were sold to Kier for £9.6m, rescuing around 180 jobs. The report names Kier as a preferential creditor, with a claim of £1.3m. GT says the final claim will total £1m as liabilities to employees transferring to Kier were adopted under TUPE.
The redundancy payments service also has a claim of more than £397k as a preferential creditor.
It is expected that preferential creditors will be repaid in full.
