A family-run kitchen and bathroom installer based in Huddersfield has gone into administration with the loss of more than 100 jobs.
Now administrators are looking to sell the assets of V&T (Plumbing, Central Heating and Bathrooms) Ltd, which traded as Aqua Interiors from premises at Colliers Way, Clayton West, after failing to find a buyer for the business.
They said the company had been hit by cashflow problems and tax issues with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
The company, formed 40 years ago, operated across the north of England as an independent installer of kitchens, bathrooms and central heating systems – mainly to local authorities, housing associations and local house builders.
The firm had annual turnover of about £15m.
Joint administrators Howard Smith and Jonny Marston, of KPMG’s restructuring practice, said the firm had been working to finalise projects and wind-down its operations in the days prior to appointment.
Following their appointment, the administrators made 110 redundancies among the workforce, including contract managers, tradespeople and office staff covering areas including accounts, administration, reception, customer service, ICT, business development and estimating,
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At present, 17 employees are being retained in the short-term to assist the administrators in winding down some of the remaining projects.
Mr Smith, associate partner at KPMG, said: “The company had suffered from cash flow difficulties in recent months and had been unable to reach agreement with HMRC regarding historic tax arrears which ultimately led to the company entering administration.
“Unfortunately, an accelerated marketing process over the past few weeks was unable to find a buyer for the business and as such redundancies were made following appointment. We will be assisting employees during this difficult time.”
The administrators are focusing on realising the assets of the company which include three separate pieces of development land in West Yorkshire, each with residential planning permission for houses; about £11m of contracts won but not yet commenced; work in progress; retentions and debtor book and a fleet of owned commercial vehicles.
Over the years, the company has worked for clients including Kirklees Council, Sheffield City Council, Pennine Housing and Leeds City Council and on schools, sheltered housing schemes and community centres as well as privately-owned domestic properties.
