Thu, 27 Oct 2022 | ADMINISTRATION
A Northamptonshire-based environmental consultancy has fallen into administration, with a buyer now being sought for its assets. Challen Commercial Investigations, which traded as Ensafe Consultants, provided asbestos, compliance and environmental consultancy services.
The company had recently attempted to seek a buyer prior to entering administration, but was unable to secure a sale. A number of staff had also left the firm prior to the appointment of administrators.
Greg Palfrey of Evelyn Partners and William Turner of Verulam Advisory were appointed as the company’s administrators on October 19 2022. The administrators attributed the company’s collapse to COVID-19 lockdowns, debts, a previous administration and labour shortages.
The company was incorporated in 1997 and operated from headquarters in Daventry, with other offices in Glasgow, Manchester, Plymouth, Ripponden and Dundalk. It also had a site in Burton, which it opened in August 2022 following the acquisition of geo-environmental consultancy Pam Brown Associates.
In its accounts for the year ending March 31 2021, Ensafe reported turnover of £10.7 million and post-tax profits of £303,534 (up from losses of £654,567 a year earlier). At the time, the company’s fixed assets were valued at £599,916 and current assets at £6.3 million, with total assets of £896,135.
The company’s administrators will now seek a buyer for its assets, including equipment.
Joint administrator Greg Palfrey commented: "Regrettably we came late to the company, which traded in the asbestos advisory space and was well recognised for the work it did. It had many blue-chip clients of many years and held an impressive list of accreditations.”
"But, with limited time, we tried to find a buyer in the industry for the business. Lockdowns, where we understand the company continued to pay staff in full, and a previous company acquisition, led to issues in the trading of the company but a lack of labour, which seems to be prevalent in many sectors, would also appear to have contributed to the demise when trying to pay off its debts."
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