UK Construction and Law
Contractor collapse leaves 4.5 million pounds of retentions unrecovered and nothing for the supply chain
By Staff Writer | 22 August 2026
The joint administrators of a London contractor that turned over 156 million pounds three years ago have filed their statutory proposals at Companies House. Trade and expense creditors are owed 19,675,738.93 pounds, the prescribed part is estimated at nil, and the administrators say no dividend will reach unsecured creditors. Retentions of 4,584,491 pounds are recorded at an uncertain value because contractors have answered with pay less notices and counterclaims larger than the sums claimed.
Curo Construction Limited entered administration on 17 June 2026 on an application to the High Court, made as part of a block application with two associated companies. Jeffrey Mark Brenner and James William Stares were appointed joint administrators. Their proposals were issued to creditors on 31 July and were filed on 13 August. The objective being pursued is the third, a distribution to secured or preferential creditors, because there was no purchaser for the shares and the sums due to the chargeholder against the value of the assets left nothing for a better outcome.
The sequence is short. The directors approached insolvency advisers on 17 April 2026. A winding up petition was presented on 1 May. All 135 employees were made redundant on 8 May. The administration application was issued on 14 May and the appointment took effect on 17 June.
Where the money went
Statutory accounts show turnover of 156,810,029 pounds for the year to 30 September 2023 and 108,304,423 pounds for the year to 30 September 2024. The proposals attribute the decline to projects delayed or postponed after 2024, to overheads that had grown with the earlier revenue and to material inflation, and record that overheads were cut heavily through 2025 and early 2026 without arresting the losses.
The estimated statement of affairs as at 17 June 2026 puts unsecured non preferential claims at 22,101,569.27 pounds: trade and expense creditors of 19,675,738.93 pounds, employee claims of 861,464.97 pounds across 132 employees and connected company loans of 1,564,365.37 pounds. The estimated deficiency as regards non preferential creditors is 24,529,251.94 pounds and the total deficiency is 24,740,425.11 pounds. Elsewhere in the same document the administrators put unsecured creditors at 21,240,104 pounds from the company's books and records, and note that claims actually received so far total about 2,984,867 pounds.
Retentions, and why nothing has come back yet
Trade debtors relating to contract retentions carry a book value of 4,584,491 pounds. No recoveries have been made. The records sit on a web based contract management platform for which the administration has had to pay a quarterly licence fee of 16,925 pounds plus VAT to keep access, and the agents appointed to pursue the debts had not, at the date of the report, been given the login credentials. Former employees who know the system are being approached, and terms for their assistance had not been agreed.
A number of responses received to date have included pay less notices and counter claims that are in excess of the amount owed, and further review and investigation will be required to assess the recoverability of these balances.
Jeffrey Mark Brenner, joint administrator, in the statement of proposals
Book debts stand at 7,835,489 pounds with an estimated realisable value of 257,239 pounds, after a 5 per cent reduction on trade debtors with no valid dispute and 35 per cent on debts due from connected companies. Correspondence received by the administrators includes retention of title claims, contractual disputes, notices requiring payments to be withheld and terminations following the insolvency.
Nothing for the unsecured
A fixed and floating charge granted to a bank in February 2021 means the prescribed part applies, but the estimate of the financial position shows net property of nil, so the prescribed part is estimated at nil. Ordinary preferential creditors are expected to be paid in full. Any payment to HM Revenue and Customs on its secondary preferential claim, which stands at 5,125,445 pounds of a total claim of 6,003,738 pounds, depends on the retentions being recovered.
Directors past and present have been sent questionnaires and investigations under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 have begun, with a report to follow to the Insolvency Service.
No statement of affairs has been produced by the directors. The stated reason is that the two people who knew the accounting system are now employed elsewhere. For a subcontractor holding a retention certificate, the practical lesson is on the first page of the asset schedule: a retention is a debt like any other, and its value in an insolvency is whatever survives the payer's own set off.