A collapsed construction firm has been ordered to pay more than £12,000 in unpaid wages to former employees, although it is unclear whether the firm has enough funds to do so.
North West England-based ABC Engineering went into voluntary liquidation in September 2022 with almost £300,000 of debt, most of which will not be recoverable.
The liquidator’s statement of affairs lists debts as including £42,000 owed to Barclays Bank and £96,000 to HMRC. Among the company’s suppliers, Aalco Metals is owed £17,000 and Barrett Steel £21,000.
Included among the preferred creditors is a holiday payment claim of £833 and a back payment claim of £1,020 among the non-preferred creditors.
In October 2022, however, eight people brought claims against the company in an employment tribunal for unpaid wages, overtime and holiday entitlement.
In a decision published this month, a judge ordered ABC Engineering to pay a total of £12,800 for those claims after the company “failed to submit a valid response in time”.
If they are not paid within two weeks, overdue claims will accrue interest at 8 percent per annum from June 7, the day after the resolution was sent to the people involved.
Construction news has contacted the company’s liquidators to clarify how this debt will be dealt with within the liquidation process.
According to the liquidator’s statement in September, the company has £4,800 to pay creditors, as well as an “uncertain” proportion of £26,000, which is the book value of its other assets.
Before its collapse, the company provided maintenance, construction and civil engineering services, according to its website.
When it was set up in July 2019, its directors were Jordan Barr and Adam Czarniewski, but Barr left as a director in March 2022. ABC Engineering owes Czarniewski £52,000. ABC’s registered addresses between November 2019 and January 2022 were in Warrington.
