One of the biggest construction haulage and plant hire firms in the London area collapsed after building works were halted following the Grenfell Tower fire, resulting in projects being delayed or abandoned.
Administrators sifting through the affairs of St Albans-based Gradewell Plant & Haulage said the business had been profitable and it grew to become the main contractor in the industry in the capital.
However, BTG Begbies Traynor said problems began in 2017 when the major high-rise fire in North Kensington resulted in nationwide building projects being put on hold while investigations were conducted and stricter statutory requirements were imposed.
In a report to creditors of Gradewell Plant & Haulage, it said: “The imposition of these stricter building regulations led to a backlog in the approval of new build schemes.
“The backlog was caused by a number of factors including the level of information needed at the application stage and a deficit in the amount of training of the experts required to review the applications and fire strategies.
“The London region, where the company primarily operated from, was significantly affected. There has been a bottleneck at the application stage which has lasted several years and it is only now that the industry is starting to see some progress in the processing of applications.
“Unfortunately, this is now too late for the company and the damage has effectively been done with many building projects being delayed or abandoned resulting in a significant loss of work for the company.”
Gradewell Plant & Haulage, which held an international operator licence authorising 20 HGVs running out of two bases in Iver and St Albans, was also affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which made the cost of building materials soar, as well as overheads increasing due to the Russian-Ukraine war.
Eventually, HMRC presented a winding-up petition in court and the company prepared an order to put the business into administration in June. It has now closed down.
Begbies Traynor added that unsecured creditors are estimated to be owed £6.4m and it expected there will be insufficient funds to enable a dividend to be paid to them.
