Ready mixed concrete supplier Ashville Aggregates and Concrete was on the verge of being sold before its funder withdrew from the offer and the business collapsed into administration, Leonard Curtis has confirmed.
The firm, based near Heathrow and operating 15 HGVs, was established in 2016 and traded successfully up until late 2023, when it was forced to relocate due to an increase in rental costs.
It secured a lease to an adjacent site in West Drayton but it meant building a new rail head and getting permission from Network Rail to transport bulk aggregates, which its administrator said was “an expensive and time-consuming process”.
This was followed by a decline in new business in 2024 and led to it scaling back operations and ceasing skip services, but by November its secured creditor Cynergy became aware of its financial difficulties and so Leonard Curtis was introduced to the business to provide advice.
A potential sale of the company was seen as the best solution for creditors and so an accelerated mergers and acquisitions process commenced, which led to an offer for the business and assets.
The administrator said this included the transfer of the company’s 33 staff and would have kept the business trading; however, the deal was contingent on the unnamed purchaser securing debt funding to provide working capital.
An initial funding offer was withdrawn and so the purchaser pursued a replacement funder, which initially proved successful, but in a report to creditors, Leonard Curtis said: “After an extensive due diligence process, the replacement funder confirmed that they were not prepared to proceed with the proposed facility on the terms initially outlined.
“Efforts were made to engage with a third-choice funder at this time, however, there was insufficient time prior to the expiry of the third [Notice of Intention to Appoint an Administrator] to obtain a suitable offer for funding and, as such, the proposed sale could not proceed.”
As a result, Leonard Curtis was appointed administrator on 14 February and Ashville Aggregates and Concrete immediately ceased operations with all employees made redundant.
Staff, preferential creditors such as HMRC and unsecured creditors are all unlikely to receive a distribution, the administrator added.
