45-625: Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd was a construction company, originally founded in 1955. It was located near Stowe , between Buckingham and Silverstone in north Buckinghamshire and operated throughout England and Wales. It went into administration in 2023 with the loss of over 400 jobs and owing over £302 million to creditors and employees. It was established in 1955 as Buckingham Plant Hire by founders Paul Wheeler and Patricia Wheeler. The company incorporated in November 1987 as Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd. The company became established as
90-419: A deal to sell its assets to a buyer before appointing administrators to facilitate the sale. It is a legal way of selling the business on to a trade buyer or third party. A pre-pack is the process of selling the assets of a company immediately after it has entered administration. It is sometimes the case that the previous directors or management purchase the assets of the company from the administrator and set up
135-490: A debtor who has enough money left over after priority creditors and essential expenses may be able to arrange an individual voluntary arrangement. (Debtors with less serious problems may prefer a debt management plan .) The Republic of Ireland operates a similar process called examinership , but companies require permission from the High Court to enter and leave examinership. In New Zealand , voluntary administration
180-451: A floating charge created prior to 15 September 2003 retain their right to appoint an administrative receiver, but all purported rights to do so created after that date will be construed as rights to appoint an administrator, subject to certain specific, rare exceptions. A court order is issued that forbids any form of legal or insolvency action without the court's permission. An application to the court for an administration order may be made by
225-551: A main contractor undertaking major construction and civil engineering projects, which was headed by Ian McSeveney for many years. McSeveney eventually became the managing director of Buckingham Group. The company undertook numerous types of civil engineering projects during its existence; it would typically operate as a principal contractor , undertaking major multi-disciplinary construction projects. Such undertakings included business parks , bypasses , and airport faculties. The company built several sports-related buildings including
270-605: A more flexible regime is available under the Companies' Creditors Arrangements Act ("CCAA"). In UK law, the administration regime is governed by the Insolvency Act 1986 , as amended by the Enterprise Act 2002 . An "administrator" can be appointed without petitioning the court by the holder of a floating charge (created since 15 September 2003), by the company or by its directors. Other creditors must petition
315-461: A new company. This process has advantages in that it enables the administrator to realise a greater amount for the assets due to business continuity and that the goodwill of the company is preserved. The employees of the company are also usually transferred to the new company, preserving jobs. Pre-packs have attracted criticism because of the appearance it gives to unconnected parties that the company has just continued without its creditors. SIP 16
360-535: Is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States . It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on running their business. The process – in the United Kingdom colloquially called being "under administration" – is an alternative to liquidation or may be a precursor to it. Administration
405-410: Is a process designed to protect limited companies from their creditors while a debt restructuring plan is carried out and presented to creditors and courts. This administration order process requires a licensed insolvency practitioner to act as the administrator appointed by the court. The administration order does not concern joint debt. Pre pack is an insolvency procedure where a company arranges
450-407: Is an officer of the court and an agent of the company, and is not personally liable for any contracts they make on behalf of the company. They have the power to do anything necessary or expedient for the management of the affairs, business and property of the company. The new administration regime introduced by the Enterprise Act 2002 replaces the previous situation where administrative receivership
495-556: Is commenced by an administration order . A company in administrative receivership is operated by an administrator (as interim chief executive with custodial responsibility for the company's assets and obligations) on behalf of its creditors . The administrator may recapitalize the business, sell the business to new owners, or demerge it into elements that can be sold and close the remainder. Most countries distinguish between voluntary (board-decided) and involuntary (court-decided) receivership. In voluntary administrative receivership,
SECTION 10
#1732773335691540-523: Is covered by the Companies Act 1993 , as amended under the Companies (Voluntary Administration) Regulations Bill in 2007. In Ukraine, a system of "sanation" ( Ukrainian : санація ) measures take place to prevent or lessen the effect of insolvency. The basic components of those measures include providing special loans and subsidies; exemptions for issuing a credit or taxation; restructuring of
585-440: Is operating efficiently, with enough freedom of competition between insolvency practitioners and whether consumers and creditors are being treated as fairly as possible. An example of a pre-pack is the sale of the assets of Cobra Beer to Coors immediately after Cobra Beer entered administration. This allowed the brand to continue and saved jobs, but also left suppliers out of pocket by an estimated £75 million. In this process,
630-685: The Augustinians of Osney Abbey had absorbed the college, and in 1278–79 it held three hides at Stowe. Osney Abbey retained Stowe until it was forced to surrender its estates to the Crown in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. In 1542 the Diocese of Oxford was instituted and Osney Abbey was consecrated as its first cathedral. The abbey's former estates, including Stowe, formed
675-541: The Docklands Light Railway , and the mixed-use £135m Copr Bay development in Swansea . In September 2023, the group formally went into administration, with Grant Thornton appointed as administrators. Shortly thereafter, 446 staff – across building, civil engineering, demolition, major projects, and sport and leisure operations – were axed, while several ongoing projects were taken over by other firms. It
720-735: The Runcorn Railway Bridge . The company was also involved in the construction of elements of Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal along with various maintenance depots, car parks, and other facilities. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced that it planned to redirect its focus towards its railway-related activities, including work on the High Speed 2 project. During September 2023, rival construction company Kier Group purchased Buckingham Group's rail business in exchange for £9.6 million, leading to
765-523: The hamlets of Boycott , Dadford and Lamport . Stowe House is a Grade I listed country house in the parish and is occupied by Stowe School . Stowe's toponym probably refers to an ancient holy place of great significance in Anglo-Saxon times . The manor of Stowe predates the Norman conquest of England . The Domesday Book of 1086 assessed the manor at five hides . It listed William
810-551: The 13th century, followed by the chancel in about 1350 and the south aisle and arcade in the latter part of the 14th century. Late in the 15th century both aisles were rebuilt and the Perpendicular Gothic nave clerestory and south porch were added. In the 16th century the Perpendicular Gothic north chapel was added, with an arcade of two bays between it and the chancel. The church was altered in
855-415: The 18th century and is now a Grade II* listed building . In the late 17th century a ring of five bells was hung in the bell tower . James Keene, who had foundries at Woodstock, Oxfordshire and Bedford , cast the second, fourth and fifth bells in 1654. Richard Keene cast the third bell in 1660 and the tenor in 1665. In 1988 John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast a new treble bell, increasing
900-516: The Conqueror's half-brother Odo , Bishop of Bayeux as the manor's feudal overlord and the Norman brothers-in-arms Robert D'Oyly and Roger d'Ivry as his tenants. D'Oyly founded Oxford Castle and he and d'Ivry founded a college of secular canons there. Not long after 1086 the manor of Stowe was transferred to the college's endowment, confirmed by a charter of Henry I in 1130. By 1150
945-482: The administrator is appointed by the company directors. In involuntary administrative receivership, the administrator is appointed by a judicial court. The legal terms for these processes vary from country to country, and the processes may overlap. In Australia, an external administrator, also called an insolvency practitioner , is an independent person that is formally appointed to control an insolvent company's affairs. External administrators can be appointed either by
SECTION 20
#1732773335691990-575: The bank when it entered administration. In January 2024, the total trade debt was revised upwards to £113m, while Buckingham's employees were owed a further £8.2m. In April 2024, administrators revealed that 1,375 claims had been received, revising the total trade debt to £256m; this total could rise further as claims from former employees progress through tribunals. In October 2024, Grant Thornton said it had received 1,391 claims worth £302.2m, with suppliers and subcontractors unlikely to receive any payments. The group's plant hire business, Buckingham Plant Hire,
1035-561: The bishopric's endowment. In 1590 John Underhill , Bishop of Oxford , conveyed Stowe to Elizabeth I , who in the same year granted it to new secular owners. They sold it to John Temple of Burton Dassett in Warwickshire, whose grandson Sir Peter Temple, 2nd Baronet enclosed a deer park in 1651. The village was probably abandoned at this time. The estate remained with the Temple-Grenville family until 1921, when it
1080-516: The business's debts and capital; change of organizational and production structure of the debtor; full or partial nationalization; others. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and reforming the existing socialist law , in 1999 there was established a law "About restoring the debtor's solvency or declaring him bankrupt". The official who administers "sanation" is known as an "arbitral director" ( Ukrainian : aрбітрaжний керуючий ) and
1125-573: The company and control of the company is given entirely to the administrator. Directors of the company are prohibited from acting in their capacity as directors for the duration of the administration, while administrators are personally liable for any debts incurred by the company in the course of the administration. The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act provides mechanisms for consumer and general proposals in order to give time for an insolvent person to be able to reorganize his affairs. For insolvent companies (or affiliated groups) owing more than $ 5 million,
1170-427: The company's assets or carry out other tasks. Voluntary administration is when the directors of an insolvent company appoint an external administrator to investigate whether winding up the corporation can be prevented or delayed and to make recommendations to the directors and their creditors as to whether the company should enter into a deed of company arrangement, be wound up (i.e. liquidated ), or be returned to
1215-564: The company's assets will be managed to ensure better returns for its creditors than an immediate winding up. When a creditor petitions the court seeking a court liquidation (a court-mandated winding up) of an insolvent company, the court appoints a " provisional liquidator " to temporarily preserve the company's assets while the winding-up application is pending. Administrators are required to be registered liquidators since they have broad powers to deal with company property. The appointment of an administrator "freezes" any legal proceedings against
1260-404: The company's directors, a secured creditor , or by a court, and include: provisional liquidators , liquidators , voluntary administrators, deed administrators , controllers , and receivers . A receivership is when an external administrator known as a "receiver" is appointed by a secured creditor to sell off a company's assets in order to repay the secured debt , or by the court to protect
1305-478: The company, the directors, a creditor or any combination of them. The Enterprise Act 2002 amended the Insolvency Act 1986 to provide an out-of-court process to appoint an administrator to the holder of a floating charge or the company or its directors. This is considerably cheaper and simpler than the previous system, which involved an application to court. In the United Kingdom, an administration order
1350-421: The control of the directors. After an administrator is appointed, there are two meetings of creditors, held within tight time-frames, with the second being the most important as it will decide whether to enter into a deed of company arrangement (DOCA), end the administration or wind the company up. The DOCA is a binding agreement between a business and its creditors overseen by a deed administrator relating to how
1395-575: The court can be produced at the courts discretion. Administration is analogous to going into " Chapter 11 " in the United States, although there are certain key differences, mainly stemming from the fact that English law does not include the debtor in possession concept. During the reorganisation period, as a result, the administrator usually runs the business rather than the directors, and any additional liquidity requirements effectively have to be met by funds provided by existing creditors rather than by any super-senior ' DIP financing '. The administrator
Buckingham Group - Misplaced Pages Continue
1440-465: The court to appoint an administrator. The administrator must act in the interests of all the creditors and attempt to rescue the company as a going concern . If this proves impossible the administrator must work to maximise the recovery of the creditors as a whole. Only then may the administrator attempt to realise property in favour of one or more secured creditors. A firm is usually in administration for no more than 12 months, after which an extension from
1485-450: The early 2020s, the company's work on sports stadiums was cited as one of the primary sources of its fiscal stress, three such projects, one being Fulham 's Craven Cottage , were allegedly responsible for steep losses for Buckingham Group and incurring financial commitments that led to financial hardship for the whole company. In 2019, it was reported that Buckingham Group had recorded a record-breaking turnover of £507 million during
1530-601: The enabling works for electrification schemes underway in North West England. In mid-2021, it was announced that Buckingham Group had secured a £55 million contract for the delivery of numerous works on the Tyne and Wear Metro , largely centered around the upgrading and electrification of an existing freight line in South Tyneside. The firm was also involved in the refurbishment of major structures such as
1575-491: The largest construction contractor in Britain to be taken over by its employees. On 17 August 2023, the company filed for administration , impacting several ongoing projects, including a £80m 7,000-seat stand at Liverpool 's Anfield stadium, a stand at Northampton Town 's Sixfields Stadium , redevelopment of Birmingham City 's St Andrew's stadium, restoration of Whitley Bay Metro station , new sidings at Beckton for
1620-472: The previous financial year. Buckingham Group also undertook numerous railway-related civil engineering works. During 2014, a joint venture between Carillion and Buckingham Group was awarded an £87 million contract from Network Rail for works related to the East West Rail project and Chiltern Railways ' Oxford and London route. Shortly thereafter, the company was contracted to perform some of
1665-584: The ring to six. The church has a Sanctus bell that was cast in about 1799. Formerly the country seat of the Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos , Stowe House is now occupied by Stowe School . The landscaped gardens and its many monuments were acquired by the National Trust in 1990, and are open to the public. The National Trust is overseeing a restoration programme of the grounds, temples and follies . Because of its picturesque surroundings Stowe has been
1710-605: The setting for many films, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , the Bollywood film Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham , Proof of Life , Stardust (2007), and The World Is Not Enough in the James Bond series. The teacher, author and murder victim Peter Farquhar taught at Stowe School and worshipped and preached at Stowe Parish Church. Administration (law) As a legal concept, administration
1755-538: The transfer of 180 employees. During September 2021, both the leadership and ownership of Buckingham Group changed drastically; several directors, including the Wheelers, that formerly held a stake in the company agreed to transfer 100% of their equity into the Buckingham Group employee ownership trust , after which they stepped down from their roles in its management. The move turned Buckingham Group into
1800-586: The £30m London 2012 Olympic handball arena (now known as the Copper Box ), a £30m pit lane development for the Silverstone Circuit , and the £93m Falmer Stadium for Brighton and Hove Albion FC . During 2015, Buckingham Group launched legal action against Northampton Town Football Club over an outstanding sum of £4.8m that it was allegedly owed in relation to the East Stand project. In
1845-421: Was available as an alternative to administration, which has traditionally been a more rescue-oriented insolvency regime. This regime allowed the holder of a floating charge to appoint an administrative receiver to realise assets in his favour, and also to block an administration order sought by a borrower. This was felt to be too favourable to the floating charge holder at the expense of other creditors. Holders of
Buckingham Group - Misplaced Pages Continue
1890-422: Was initially said to be unaffected by the collapse of the contracting arm and continued to trade profitably. However, it was owed around £1.8m, according to the administrator's creditors' report. Stowe, Buckinghamshire Stowe is a civil parish and former village about two miles (three kilometres) northwest of Buckingham in the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire , England. The parish includes
1935-510: Was introduced in January 2009 to assist Insolvency Practitioners in pre-pack cases. It was designed to make the process more transparent for creditors, and to ensure that fair value was obtained for the assets. In November 2009, the Office of Fair Trading announced a study into corporate insolvencies, with particular focus on pre-pack administrations, to report on whether the insolvency market
1980-647: Was sold by the Reverend Luis C.F.T. Morgan-Grenville (1889–1944). Stowe School was founded here in 1923. The earliest mention of the parish church of the Assumption of the Blessèd Virgin Mary is in Henry I's charter of 1130. The oldest part of the building is the late 13th-century three- bay arcade between the nave and the north aisle . The west tower was added in the first half of
2025-470: Was the biggest collapse in Britain's construction sector since the liquidation of Carillion in January 2018. Subcontractors were reportedly owed in excess of £100m. Debts on Liverpool's new Anfield Road Stand alone were around £20m. A 29 September 2023 report from the administrator Grant Thornton confirmed trade contractors and suppliers were owed over £108m, with 1,200 unsecured creditors unlikely to see any kind of return. Buckingham Group had around £5m in
#690309