Pierse Contracting's British arms go into liquidation

TWO BRITISH subsidiaries of building group Pierse are in liquidation following actions by creditors and the company itself this week.

Cheshire-based Pierse Contracting held a creditors’ meeting earlier this week at the offices of corporate rescue specialist Zolfo Cooper in Manchester, after the company went into voluntary liquidation. A group of creditors headed by one subcontractor recently went to court and had the firm’s sister company, Pierse Contracting Southern Ltd, placed in liquidation.

Zolfo Cooper has now taken over the affairs of Pierse Contracting, and will be responsible for collecting money owed to it and distributing proceeds to creditors.

The southern division is under the control of the Official Receiver’s Office in the UK, a body that takes charge of the affairs of companies wound up through the courts.

Both businesses are owned by, but separate from, the Irish group.

Its managing director, Norbert O’Reilly, told The Irish Times yesterday that it will not be directly affected by the winding-down of the two British-based companies, and that it is continuing to trade profitably. He explained the group had planned an “orderly wind-down” of Pierse Contracting Southern, which worked mainly in the south of England, over the last 18 months, but was having difficulty collecting money owed to it by its own debtors.

Mr O’Reilly said the result was that a number of its creditors became impatient and went to the courts to seek to have the company wound up.

A spokeswoman for Wandle Plumbing and Heating, a Surrey-based subcontractor hired by Pierse Contracting Southern, said yesterday it was owed about £20,000 (€22,828). She said that, together with other creditors who supported its action, there was about £500,000 involved.

Mr O’Reilly said winding up Pierse Contracting, which was mainly focused on the north of England, was a follow-on from what happened to the southern arm.

He said that that company was also having difficulty collecting money from its debtors, and that creditors were getting anxious – and so it decided to go the voluntary liquidation route.

Mr O’Reilly added that Pierse in Ireland was the company’s biggest creditor. “We paid over about £3.6 million to both companies over the last year,” he said. “In total, we’ve put about £20 million into the UK companies down through the years.”

According to accounts lodged with the British companies office, Pierse Contracting Southern Ltd made a loss in the 12 months to April 30th last year of £4.3 million, on the back of revenues of almost £24 million.

Shareholders’ funds had a deficit of £6 million. On the balance sheet date, the company owed other group companies £6 million, and the amount due to creditors within one year came to a total of £16 million.

Assets were £9.5 million. It was owed £8.7 million for contracts it had worked on.

During the same financial year, Pierse Contracting lost £4.5 million on sales of £21.6 million. Shareholders’ funds were £4 million in the red.

It owed other group companies a total of £16 million, and amounts due to creditors within one year came to a total of $43 million.

Assets were £34 million.

The company was owed £11 million for contract work that it had carried out.

In both cases, the accounts show that the Irish group gave assurances that it would not seek repayment of money due to it within one year. The amounts were not secured and had no fixed repayment date.