Ross Connock and Edward Williams of PwC were appointed joint administrators of Concord Limited, BAS Castings Limited and H.I. Quality Steel Castings Limited on 30 March 2023.
Concord Limited moved from administration to dissolution on 27 March 2024.
H.I. Quality Steel Castings Limited moved from administration to liquidation on 13 November 2024.
Background relating to the Group
The Group operated two casting foundries in Pinxton, Nottinghamshire (BAS) and Whittington Moor, Chesterfield (HIQ) which manufacture and supply high integrity iron and steel castings worldwide. At the time of the administrators’ appointment, BAS had 78 employees and HIQ had 76.
The Group’s growth and financial stability has been impacted by a legacy defined benefit pension scheme which it was no longer able to support given a period of underperformance arising from Covid-19 and more recently by rising energy costs and inflation.
Despite extensive work around options, the pension trustee has recently made the difficult decision to wind the scheme up. The directors therefore concluded that the businesses could not continue to trade as a going concern and had little alternative other than to place the Group into administration.
Following their appointments, the joint administrators undertook an accelerated process of limited trading and completion of work in progress where possible alongside rapidly exploring any interest in a sale of the businesses and assets. This has resulted in a sale of all the business and assets of HIQ which has preserved all 76 jobs to Chesterfield Metal Technologies Limited (a subsidiary of William Cook Holdings Limited) on 6 April. Unfortunately the limited interest in BAS has resulted in 59 redundancies being announced at the same date, with a small number of employees (18) retained to assist the administrators.
Eddie Williams, joint administrator, said:
“I am pleased that our significant efforts since appointment have been able to save so many jobs at HIQ in a sector already experiencing a number of economic challenges. However it is very disappointing that having exhausted all options around a sale or funding, we have no alternative other than to announce this level of redundancies at BAS.
“We understand that this is a very difficult time for the employees and we will be providing support to the employees impacted over the coming weeks.”
Chris Seymour, William Cook, said:
“We are delighted that we've managed to work with the joint administrators to complete the purchase of the majority of HIQ's business and assets. We now look forward to stabilising the business utilising the strength and depth from across the rest of the William Cook group and working with HIQ’s employees who will be key to future growth and profitability"
Documents available to download
H.I. Quality Steel Castings Limited - in liquidation
H.I. Quality Steel Castings Limited - in administration
BAS Castings Limited - in administration
Concord Limited - in administration
Creditors of BAS Castings Limited and H.I. Quality Steel Castings Limited
Creditors have been written to outlining information as to how to submit your claim. Should you have any queries, please contact:
BAS creditors - uk_bas_creditors@pwc.com
HIQ creditors - uk_hiq_creditors@pwc.com
Concord Limited
All queries regarding Concord Limited should be sent to:
Concord uk_concord@pwc.com
BAS Castings Limited
Ross Connock and Edward Williams have been appointed as joint administrators of BAS Castings Limited to manage its affairs, business and property, and act without personal liability. Both are licensed in the United Kingdom to act as insolvency practitioners by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
The Joint Administrators are bound by the Insolvency Code of Ethics which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/insolvency-practitioner-code-of-ethics
The Joint Administrators may act as controllers of personal data as defined by UK data protection law depending upon the specific processing activities undertaken. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP may act as a processor on the instructions of the Joint Administrators. Personal data will be kept secure and processed only for matters relating to the Joint Administrators’ appointment. Further details are available in the privacy statement on the PwC.co.uk website or by contacting the Joint Administrators.
H.I. Quality Steel Castings Limited
Ross Connock and Edward Williams have been appointed as joint liquidators of H.I. Quality Steel Castings Limited to manage its affairs, business and property, and act without personal liability. Both are licensed in the United Kingdom to act as insolvency practitioners by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
The Joint Liquidators are bound by the Insolvency Code of Ethics which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/insolvency-practitioner-code-of-ethics
The Joint Liquidators may act as controllers of personal data as defined by UK data protection law depending upon the specific processing activities undertaken. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP may act as a processor on the instructions of the Joint Liquidators. Personal data will be kept secure and processed only for matters relating to the Joint Liquidators’ appointment. Further details are available in the privacy statement on the PwC.co.uk website or by contacting the Joint Liquidators.