Henry Construction Projects has appointed administrators, becoming the largest company in the construction sector since October 2021.
The west London-based company, which has expanded rapidly in recent years and was ranked 41St in the 2022 CN100 list of the largest contractors, had a turnover of £402.2m in the year to 30 June 2021, up from £376.6m the previous year, and made a profit before of tax of £14 million during the period.
FRP Advisory was appointed administrator of the company on Thursday (June 8). A spokesman for FRP said the company’s position is currently being assessed with the help of “professional industry advisers”.
The company was hit by nine supplier liquidation requests last year, although some were withdrawn after Henry agreed to make payments.
A subcontractor behind one of the settlement requests said Construction news Henry Construction had owed him money since September 2021, although he declined to say how much.
“The outstanding balance has never been officially disputed by Henry despite many attempts from our company to resolve the outstanding amount on the final account,” he said.
Another subcontractor, who was owed £27,000 by the contractor but was not one of those who brought a winding-up order, said CN: “We did one job for them and we wouldn’t do another after they asked us to.
“It’s no surprise to hear they’ve gone into administration. We’ve been checking at Companies House for about two weeks, but it looks like we’re one of the small people who are likely to be left with a penny in the pound.”
A High Court application by Italian steel and glass manufacturer Bluesteel to enforce an award, seen by CN, claims Henry owes more than £400,000. The amount was due in April and the supplier filed the enforcement claim last month.
Henry was also subject to several adjudications heard in court last year, documents show.
talking with NC, Kathryn Kligerman, construction, engineering and procurement partner at law firm Devonshires, said: “Employers, over the past few weeks and months, have already been grappling with the difficult knock-on effects of Henry’s downward trajectory, including the lack of labor on site. , slow and intermittent progress and an unpaid supply chain.”
The latest accounts for Henry Construction Projects showed that, at the time of publication in May last year, it owed creditors £120m in amounts due the following year and a further £13.3m in amounts pending in more than a year.
The company is the largest in the sector by revenue downgraded from NMCN in October 2021.
However, according to its latest published accounts, despite its high turnover it only directly employed 49 people.
By 2015 the company had a turnover of just £50m, having started in 2010 as a small civil rebar and concrete specialist.
In December 2021, the company was named by CN as among the 17 contractors who breached the legal requirement to publish how long it took to pay their suppliers. It has not subsequently published the data.
His work focused on London and the South East, focusing on residential and mixed-use schemes, as well as hotels and student accommodation.
In a statement with its 2021 accounts executive, Mark Henry, it raised the risk that its future profitability will be affected by cost increases on fixed-price contracts. He said the company remained alert to that risk and reviewed projects “contract by contract.”
Last month it was fined £234,000 after being prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after a demolition worker suffered serious injuries after falling from a platform at one of its sites in Kensington High Street on March 2021.
Amy Jacks, co-head of the restructuring practice in Mayer Brown International’s London office, said: “The Henry Construction news is a further reminder that the parties in this sector, whether they are contractors, suppliers or subcontractors, should increase their focus and closely monitor ongoing relationships, counterparty viability and credit control.
“If possible, have contingency plans that allow you to act quickly, if a counterparty begins to experience financial difficulties.”
