Administrators have confirmed there are no secured or employee preferential claims in Ardmore Construction’s collapse, with HMRC’s £148,000 claim set to be paid in full.
With £2.8m in cash transferred on day one, joint administrators believe there should be sufficient funds to deliver a dividend to unsecured creditors — subject to the resolution of final claims and outstanding safety actions.
However, retention creditors face potential exposure of around £15m. These retention sums remain tied up in possible defect notifications, which could result in deductions before any release of funds.
A report from administrator Begbies Traynor reveals a long list of potential cladding and Building Liability Order (BLO) claims still hanging over the business. Up to 16 firms, represented by solicitors, have notified possible claims — collectively worth around £91m so far — though most have yet to quantify their full exposure. Some parties have also sought insurer details under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act.
At the same time, administrators have identified a £204.5m potential “downstream” claim pool against historic subcontract packages and their insurers, covering cladding, façades, and associated remedial works. They plan to review and pursue these claims where viable.
According to the report, Ardmore’s downfall can be traced back to the Building Safety Act 2022, which extended liability for defective premises to 30 years retrospectively and 15 years prospectively. The reform made main contractors and group companies accountable for historic defects — prompting a wave of new claims across decades-old projects.
Matters escalated further after the High Court’s December 2024 ruling in BDW Trading v Ardmore Construction, concerning fire-safety defects in residential blocks completed between 2003 and 2004. The judgment set a damaging precedent and marked the decisive blow for the London contractor.
By that point, Ardmore had already spent over £100m on remedial works, with another £75m agreed with insurers, but legal costs continued to mount — reaching £687,000 in February 2025 alone.
As cash reserves ran dry and a winding-up threat from a retention creditor arrived late on 27 August 2025, directors placed the company into administration the next day.
The administration affects only Ardmore Construction Limited, the group’s flagship contracting arm, which had not taken on new work since 2021. Other group divisions — Major Projects, Hotels & Commercial, Regeneration, and Fitout — remain unaffected and continue to trade profitably.
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