Creditors owed £9m following firm’s collapse

Trade creditors have been left £9m out of pocket following the collapse of Leeds roofing and cladding firm Cover Structure (CSL).

CSL was working on 20 projects when it was forced to appoint administrators earlier this year with the loss of 47 jobs.

It was working on major projects around the UK, including the £250m Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, a £53m hospital in Edgbaston, a residential block in Manchester and Thorpe Park in Leeds.

Gavin Quinlan, managing director over the last five years and son of the founding director Frank, had grown the business from a turnover of £4m to £25m.

He said: “It would be easy to blame CSL entering administration as a classic case of too big, too quick and although on reflection I would agree there is some truth in this, the reality is far more complex.”

He described CSL entering administration as the “perfect storm”.

A number of factors led to the company’s demise, including a company director overstating profits to around £1.2m on a number of projects, which was not discussed with the board. Quinlan said the director believed he could balance the number on projects going forward.

Investments were made in its associated business Coloured Metal Profiles (CMP) on the back of the figures produced, which would otherwise have been put on hold.

Meanwhile a large project in Manchester was hit by labour premiums which saw labour costs rocket.