UK administrations update: May 21 – 28

Since our last update, the following businesses have been confirmed as having fallen into administration. All dates indicate when the administration was posted by the Gazette and not necessarily the dates on which administrators were appointed.

Clean Cold Power UK Limited – May 21
Clean Cold Power UK Limited, a clean technology firm focused on commercialisation of Zero Emission Transport Refrigeration Units (ZE-TRU), fell into administration last month, with the Gazette confirming the appointment of Tommaso Ahmad and Paul Bailey of Bailey Ahmad as joint administrators last week.

In its most recent accounts, for the year to June 30 2022, the Croydon-based company’s fixed assets were valued at £5.8 million and current assets at £1.8 million. However, the company’s debts at the time left it with total liabilities of £11.4 million.

Apple Invest Limited – May 21
Apple Invest Limited, an Essex-based real estate firm, fell into administration last week, with Simon Barriball and Sandra McAlister of McAlister & Co Insolvency Practitioners appointed as joint administrators.

In the company’s accounts for the year to October 31 2022, its fixed assets were valued at £10.8 million and current assets at £1.9 million, with net assets amounting to £4.5 million.

C X Wealth Limited – May 22
C X Wealth Limited, a financial management firm based in London, fell into administration earlier this month, with the Gazette confirming the appointment of Ben Woodthorpe and Mark Supperstone of ReSolve Advisory as joint administrators last week.

In the company’s accounts for the year to March 31 2023, its total assets were valued at close to £22.6 million, but its debts meant that net assets amounted to just £1.9 million.

Aden & Anais Limited – May 22
Aden & Anais Limited, a London-based designer, manufacturer and wholesaler of baby products and clothing, fell into administration last week, with Mark Bowen of MB Insolvency appointed as administrator. The company was acquired by private equity firm Transom in 2023.

In its accounts for the year to December 31 2023, its fixed assets were valued at £125,559 and current assets at £4.4 million. However, its debts left it with net liabilities amounting to £2.4 million.

Garthorpe Plant Limited – May 23
Garthorpe Plant Limited, a Melton Mowbray-based firm that rents and leases agricultural machinery, fell into administration last week, appointing David Kemp and Richard Hunt of SFP Restructuring as joint administrators.

In its accounts for the year to February 28 2023, the company’s fixed assets were valued at £2.9 million and current assets at close to £940,000. Its net assets at the time amounted to £142,493.

Chamberlin & Hill Castings Limited – May 23
Chamberlin & Hill Castings Limited, a Walsall-based iron casting firm, fell into administration on May 20, with the Gazette posting the appointment of Rajnesh Mittal and Benjamin Neil of FRP Advisory as joint administrators on May 23.

In its accounts for the year to May 31 2023, the company reported turnover of £6.8 million, up from £5.6 million a year earlier. Despite this, it fell to a post-tax loss of £95,628, although this was down from a loss of nearly £800,000 a year earlier, and reported an operating profit of close to £694,000.

At the time, its fixed assets were valued at £2.68 million and current assets at £2.96 million. However, its debts left it with net liabilities of £7.5 million, up slightly from £7.3 million a year earlier.

Cazoo Limited, Cazoo Properties Limited and Cazoo Holdings Limited – May 23
Online used car retailer Cazoo fell into administration last week, as part of a major restructuring following several challenging years. The company saw huge growth during the COVID-19 pandemic and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 with a valuation of around £5 billion.

However, the company subsequently struggled following this period of rapid growth, becoming loss-making, experiencing difficulties in attracting funding, making significant redundancies and retreating from the European market.

Matthew Mawhinney and David Soden of Teneo Financial Advisory have now been appointed as joint administrators of Cazoo Limited, Cazoo Holdings Limited and Cazoo Properties Limited.

Find out more about Cazoo’s struggles here

Russell Ductile Castings Limited – May 23
Russell Ductile Castings Limited, a Walsall-based iron castings firm and a subsidiary of the Chamberlin group, fell into administration last week, appointing Rajnesh Mittal and Benjamin Jones of FRP Advisory as joint administrators.

In its report for the year to May 31 2023, the company reported turnover of £10 million, up from £7.9 million a year earlier, but saw its post-tax profits drop from close to £1.1 million to £659,252.

At the time, its fixed assets were valued at £1.89 million and current assets at £5.8 million, with net assets standing at close to £2.3 million.

Offshore Design Engineering Limited – May 23
Offshore Design Engineering Limited, which trades as DORIS UK, is an offshore engineering consultancy based in London. The company fell into administration last week, appointing Matthew Whitchurch and Jonathan Dunn of FRP Advisory as joint administrators.

In its accounts for the year to December 31 2022, the company reported turnover of £19.1 million, down from £29.4 million a year earlier, and fell from a post-tax profit of £633,700 in 2021 to a loss of £2.27 million.

At the time, its fixed assets were valued at £464,197 and current assets at £9.1 million, with total equity standing at £2.7 million.

Float Capital Limited – May 24
Float Capital Limited, a peer-to-peer asset protocol, fell into administration earlier this month, with the Gazette confirming the appointment of Ben Woodthorpe and Mark Supperstone of ReSolve Advisory as joint administrators last week.

In the company’s accounts for the year to June 30 2022, it reported turnover of £1.56 million, up from £1.34 million a year earlier. However, its post-tax profits fell sharply from £696,587 to £38,829. At the time, its net current assets were valued at £12.3 million, but debts left it with total net assets of just £18,891.

Premier Custom Build Limited – May 28
Premier Custom Build Limited, a housing construction firm based in Dalkeith, fell into administration last week, with the Gazette reporting the appointment of Donald McNaught and Graeme Bain of Johnston Carmichael as joint administrators on May 28.

In the company’s accounts for the year to October 31 2022, its current assets were valued at £1.27 million. However, it owed creditors almost exactly this amount, leaving it with net assets totalling just £2.


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