Failed builders leave £10m debt

ASOMERSET-BASED construction firm which went into liquidation leaving buildings unfinished has also left debts of more than £10m, it has been revealed.

Henry W Pollard and Sons Ltd, which had been in business for 161 years, ceased trading earlier this summer, leaving buildings across the West unfinished.

Now joint liquidators at South West accountancy and business consultancy Bishop Fleming have revealed that more than 300 creditors have made claims totalling £10,093,692 against the firm’s assets.

But most of them will not receive any cash as it is estimated the pot will be millions of pounds short, and non-preferential creditors will find themselves out of pocket.

Those include 26 employees who are owed £545,879 between them, and the company pension fund, which is £4,954,000 in deficit.

Although assets are worth an estimated £1,382,538, some of this cash will go to preferential creditors, including the £324,359 owed to HMRC, and to pay debts secured by floating charge-holders, such as Lloyds Bank.

It means there is only a little more than £1m available to be shared out among other claimants, most of which are small and mid-sized companies spread across the South West.

Among the dozens of companies owed money are Plymouth firm XCAV8 (SW) Ltd, which is claiming £130,181; Bridgwater’s Blake Joinery Co, owed £221,950; Plymouth’s Beaumont Drylining Ltd, owed £97,595; another Plymouth firm, PCB Electrical Service, which is claiming £134,393; and DMH Interiors, in Weston-super-Mare, which is £105,243 short.

The smallest claim is for £17 but most are for hundreds or thousands of pounds, and they come from companies in places such as Bristol, Bath, Taunton and Swindon.

Pollard was based in Bridgwater and had a key office in Plymouth.

It ceased trading and entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation on July 8, 2021. Joint liquidators were appointed on July 21.

Documents filed at Companies House revealed Pollard had outstanding loans and mortgages from Lloyds Bank.

But the firm was in profit before the coronavirus pandemic and had a healthy turnover, but the administration of an important client in 2019 had left it £715,000 out of pocket.

Pollard has been involved in multi-million pound building projects throughout the West Country.

Pollard recently completed Kingsditch Industrial Units in Cheltenham, and was also working on Weston

Mews townhouses in Bath, and Alexander House care home in Exeter.

Pollard directly employed about 50 people and its most recent results revealed turnover of £24m, up 20%, in 2020 and a profit of £170,888.

That was before the Covid pandemic, although accounts released in January 2021 said the firm has been able to maintain work at all its sites and was tendering for £40m of contracts.