Troubled Squibb Demolition applies for administration: Workers reported to have been laid off and work stops on major projects
THURROCK-based Squibb Demolition Group has applied to go into administration and has been reported to have made many staff redundant as it faces a huge tax debt.
The family-owned company moved a significant part of its operations to to the Stanhope Industrial Estate in Stanford-le-Hope in advance of the 2012 Olympic games as it vacated its East London home.
It occupied the Stanford site in 2009, initially initially using it as a demolition contractor's yard and waste recycling centre but eventually it became the company HQ. Construction of a new company building was completed in 2016.
Controversy was never far from the new site's gates as residents began a campaign of action against it. In 2013 a retrospective planning application was rejected by Thurrock Council. The decision limited the times vehicles could move to and from the site.
The application was rejected on the grounds that the lorries would "cause damage to local amenity" that "Wharf Road is unsuitable for the number of HGVs and abnormal load vehicles proposed" and the application for 150 lorry movements a day significantly exceeded previous permission.
The company has grown to become one of the country's largest specialist demolition firms and is involved in a number of projects across the UK. In 2021 Squibb Group was ranked within the top 40 of worldwide demolition contractors.
One of its latest jobs, begun earlier this year is the demolition of the hugely controversial failed mechanical and biological waste treatment facility at Tovi Eco Park in Basildon. Work there is now reported to have stopped.
Throughout its tenure at Stanford the company has been the centre of local controversy because of the impact of its vehicles going to and from the site via the narrow, residential Wharf Road - the only access to the industrial estate.
The company has regularly been accused of breaching traffic regulations and its vehicles, particularly heavy low loaders transporting huge machinery have been frequently involved in incidents that have blocked the road or resulted in collisions.
When the company moved to Stanhope it was on the understanding that a relief road connecting the site to the Manorway and main roads would be built. It was promised by the now defunct Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation but it didn't deliver and Thurrock Council reneged on the plan when the Corporation was shut down.
Earlier this year Stanford councillors Terry Piccolo and Neil Speight urged the council to reconsider the plan and work with the newly created Thurrock Freeport to build it and finally end residents' years of problems.
As well as the traffic issues, there have been a number of complaints by residents about burning of materials on the Stanhope site - with the finger pointed at Squibb.
It is likely some of those residents will see news of the company's possible demise with relief.
The company had been served a winding-up petition from HM Revenue and Customs which is owed more than £4 million. It was due to be ruled on yesterday morning (Wednesday, 22 November).
However, a High Court judge adjourned the winding-up hearing until 6 December, after the administration application is heard in the Insolvency and Companies List court in London on 4 December.
It is understood the application was made after plans for a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) – under which creditors could have agreed a long-term payment plan – fell through.
Squibb reported a £274,000 pre-tax profit from £32m revenue in its last published accounts, for the year ending 31 January 2022.
CVA proposals by accountants Begbies Traynor show £26.2m is owed to more than 300 creditors by the group which had a turnover of £30.9m for the year to 31 January 2022. At that time Squibb was owed £18.7m by debtors and had other assets worth £18.1m, including £35,423 of cash.
The company has extended its 2022/23 accounting year by six months and is due to file its next financial accounts by 30 April 2024.
The company is run by managing director Leslie Squibb, the great-grandson of company founder Harry Squibb, who joined the firm in 1987. His father, Leslie Snr, was the chair of the company until his death in 2020.
In March the company was one of 10 companies fined by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for breaching competition law via cover bidding arrangements.
Squibb was fined £2m but in August last year launched legal action against the CMA, pointing out that it was only involved in "a small number of infringements" and saying the calculation of the fine sum was incorrect.
Yesterday a Squibb worker was reported as telling media said: "Most of us have now been told we don't have jobs and only a handful of staff have been kept on."
The firm is also understood to have pulled off workers and plant off sites it is working on, including a demolition project in Hull as part of the city's £96m Albion Square scheme.
To date there has been no formal statement by Squibb.
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