Buckingham Group ring fiscal alarm bells

Article posted by Coliseum, August 18^th, 2023

Image: Fulham FC

The construction company Buckingham Group Contracting Limited (UK) has filed a Notice of Intention to appoint administrators.

‘Construction Enquirer’ stated that the £700m turnover employee-owned business filed the notice on August 16th giving it 10 days to keep the creditors at bay.

Stowe (UK)-based the Buckingham Group Contracting Limited is a construction company located near Stowe, between Buckingham and Silverstone in North Buckinghamshire which operates throughout England and Wales. Established originally in 1955 as the Buckingham Plant Hire, it incorporated in November 1987 as the Buckingham Group Contracting Limited.

A Notice of Intention – or NOI – declares one’s intention to appoint an administrator in order to rescue your business, repay creditors and save it from liquidation. A NOI is a document filed at court, stating a company’s intention to appoint administrators in an attempt to save the business from liquidation.

‘Construction Enquirer’ further stated that the move follows a main Board shake-up just two weeks back after the Group Managing Director Ian McSeveney tendered his resignation for long term health reasons after 17 years with the business.

Simon Walkley stepped up to replace McSeveney after acting as the Deputy Group Managing Director (MD) for two years.

In the last reported accounts for 2021, the firm suffered a near £11m pre-tax loss after taking a big hit on a major stadium job, believed to be the Premier League club Fulham F.C.’s (UK) home – the 25,700-capacity Craven Cottage Riverside Stand work.

At the time the Buckingham Chairman, Mike Kempley, said that he expected to report steady sales for 2022, with its present strong order pipeline expected to lift revenue in 2023 to a record £725m.

The firm hit the headlines in September 2021 when it became the largest contractor to switch to an employee ownership trust.

At the same time, Founder Directors Paul Wheeler and Patricia Wheeler, along with the longstanding Group Stadia Director and Park Kevin Underwood all retired from the Board.

The firm, founded back in 1987, has grown steadily on a mix of rail and stadium work and more recently warehouse and logistic building jobs.

It presently employs over 600 staff.

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