Ardmore’s creditors vote to approve seven CVAs

Seven Ardmore group companies have won creditor backing for Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) proposals.

It means the seven can continue trading while repaying creditors under agreed terms which have been brokered by financial and real estate advisory group BTG and law firm Kingsley Napley.

The proposals were presented to Ardmore’s creditors last month with a final vote approving them taken this week.

BTG said it means the group “will cease operating as a main contractor and focus on business areas that will deliver a significantly better outcome for creditors than liquidation”.

The CVAs cover Ardmore Group Holdings, Ardmore Group, Byrne Properties, Celebration Homes, Paddington Construction, Systemhaven and Byrne Estates (Kensal Green). 

Moratorium notices for the seven were filed by Ardmore’s board in June after Ardmore Construction Group and several subsidiary companies went into administration in the middle of that month.

The firm appointed BTG as administrator for its construction group, which also includes Ardmore Major Projects, Regeneration, Fit-out, Hotels & Commercial and Landmark Facades.

BTG said the administration happened following a ruling in May in which a High Court judge ordered several Ardmore firms to pay housebuilder Crest Nicholson nearly £15m in a case relating to cladding at 19 residential buildings at Admiralty Quarter in Portsmouth.

Ardmore Group chairman Cormac Byrne said: “The decision to place our construction businesses into administration and subsequently present these CVAs has not been easy but we acknowledge they have been critical steps in securing our future and supporting our creditors.

“We worked with BTG and Kingsley Napley to explore all realistic alternatives, including liquidation, but this proposal presents more favourable terms to our creditors and we’re pleased that the majority have voted in favour.

“Although this is a positive step, we are disappointed to no longer be operating as a main contractor. We remain immensely proud of the work we have done over half a century and I would like to thank everyone that has supported and worked in Ardmore’s construction businesses during that time.”

BTG partner Asher Miller added: “We would like to thank the creditors for approving the plan so that we can take the next steps in the restructuring. Going through this CVA process is a vital step to taking the Group forwards and ensuring that it has a positive future ahead of it.”

Ardmore has previously said it will appeal the Admiralty Quarter ruling, adding that it “believes the appeal raises issues of wider public importance for the construction industry, including the circumstances in which a Building Liability Order may be made and the extent to which liabilities may be imposed on group companies in respect of historic projects”.