Loss-making London jobs blew £20m hole in collapsed M&E firm’s accounts as creditors facing £18m hit

Unsecured creditors are owed more than £18m following the collapse last month of a Liverpool M&E firm that had been going since just after the Second World War.

HE Simm & Son was set up in 1948 and in its last set of results filed at Companies House posted a revenue of £118m in the 17 months to December 2023.

But the firm collapsed into administration nearly five weeks ago with all 127 staff losing their jobs.

A report by administrator Forvis Mazars said the company ran into problems on several fixed price contracts, especially in London, which saw costs rise following the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

“[The war] created new pressures: rising costs, supply chain disruption, labour shortages, commercial challenges with main contractors and project delays combined to create one of the most challenging trading environments in the company’s history.”

Forvis Mazars said two London jobs in particular, a hotel scheme in Victoria, and an upmarket apartments project in Pimlico, “marked the beginning of the company’s financial difficulties”.

It added: “Exponential cost increases, supply chain disruption, and delays led to heavy losses on both schemes. The delivery challenges placed a significant burden on management, diverting resources and deepening losses. This not only impacted those projects but also strained the wider business, creating cash flow pressures and undermining the company’s financial stability.”

The problems triggered a review in autumn 2023 of all London jobs which “confirmed further material losses across multiple schemes”. The administrator said six jobs were costing HE Simm £20m.

Several amounts were raised earlier this year to prop up the balance sheet including a £9.9m increase in June in share capital, Forvis Mazars said, but it added: “During July 2025 it became apparent that the equity introduction in June was insufficient to meet the working capital needs of the company, due to new challenges that had arisen since the introduction of the equity.”

Forvis Mazars said it could not yet provide an outcome for creditors and would do so in its next report.

Staff are owed £214,000 in unpaid wages and holiday pay while HMRC is owed £276,000.