Manchester-based corporate debt advisory, The Business Debt Advisor has rescued air conditioning and data centre specialists, Environment & Power Technology Limited (EPT) and its 14 employees from insolvency.
EPT (formerly Indair Limited) was established in Sheffield in 1963 and operated successfully for over 40 years with turnover peaking at £3.5m in 1997.
Colin Holliday, finance director at EPT explained: “From late 2009, Indair Limited suffered late payments from multiple customers and accrued bad debts in excess of £100,000.
“A bitter shareholder dispute emerged in early 2008 and in April 2010 we also discovered that a senior staff member with 12 years’ service had been stealing a substantial amount of money over a five-year period.
“We were tied in to various long-term leases on fixed assets that we no longer required, so without any cash investment, we were effectively trading whilst we were insolvent.”
The company finally sought professional advice and appointed The Business Debt Advisor as an administrator in July 2010.
Bev Budsworth, managing director of The Business Debt Advisor explained: “This was a particularly complex case. The long-term disruption of the ongoing shareholder dispute and the ongoing legal costs had had a significant impact on both the company’s performance and net profit.
“The business was immediately sold in order for EPT to acquire all the company’s assets. Following this, it exited the administration process for a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation meaning a return to creditors of 27 pence in the pound and total realisations to date of over £120K.
“Hard work and dedication enabled us to rescue the business and its 14 employees. The business now has a strong board of directors and I have no doubt that it will continue to grow and become a success once again.”
Holliday concluded: “A year ago, the situation was bleak but following the advice from The Business Debt Advisor, we were able to retain the good things about the company, keep the skills in-house and safeguard the jobs of all our employees.”
“Everyone involved in the whole process has been fantastic and with Bev’s advice, we are continuing to go from strength to strength and the future is once again looking bright”.