Harry Neal goes into receivership after Winding-up petition is issued

The London-based building firm Harry Neal, which had a turnover of £40m in 2008, has been placed into voluntary receivership.

Directors of the company are understood to have held a series of meetings on Wednesday to discuss its future after a winding-up petition was issued against it on 27 January.

A source at Harry Neal said today that the firm had been left with no choice but to place itself into voluntary receivership. He added that a creditor’s meeting would be held in 14 days.  UHY Hacker Young is expected to be appointed administrator.

Redworth Construction

It follows news last week that Redworth Construction, which had a turnover of £30m in 2008, was also facing the possibility of liquidation.  A company voluntary arrangement was rejected by creditors of the Yorkshire-based contractor, which specialises in the care sector.

Since 10 December 2009, five county court judgments totalling £78,200 have been filed against the firm and a winding-up petition has also been lodged, with a hearing scheduled for 10 February.

Debtfocus, a debt management firm hired by Redworth, has told creditors that the directors of Redworth will not be contesting the winding-up petition, which may lead to the firm being liquidated.

Posted at 08:13PM Feb 08, 2010 by Kelly Board in Insolvency  |  Comments[0]

Ethel Austin Back in Administration

Fashion Retailer Ethel Austin has fallen back into Administration for the second time in as many years due to low funding and poor trading figures in January.

The company, which has more than 300 stores nationwide plans to continue trading whilst the administrators seek out a new buyer.  Administrators MCR have also not ruled out the possibility of closures or redundancies as they try and add some financial stability back into the company. 

MCR have also said that there can be ‘no guarantees’ that a buyer will be found due to the current economic climate making potential investors reluctant to commit, especially to a struggling company.

"There is no doubt in our mind that the onset of the global economic crisis has hit the retail sector particularly hard," said Geoff Bouchier from MCR.

"As a consequence of this the companies have struggled to secure funders which in turn has impacted their ability to generate sales revenue."

The sister company of Ethel Austin, Au Naturale have also entered administration, again with MCR appointed on the case.

Some positivity for the company can come from the last time it went into Administration, the company was bought in less than a month by the former head of market rival MK One.

Founded and based in Knowsley, Merseyside, Ethel Austin has been in business for more than 70 years.

Posted at 03:17PM Feb 08, 2010 by Kris Wigfield in Insolvency  |  Comments[0]