Subcontractors have largely escaped the financial fallout from the collapse of Ardmore Construction Limited, with administrators listing just £1.26m owed to trade firms, excluding retentions.
Administrators confirmed there are no secured or employee preferential claims, with HMRC’s £148,000 bill to be paid in full.
With £2.8m cash transferred in on day one, the joint administrators believe there should be enough to deliver a dividend to unsecured creditors — depending on how final claims and outstanding safety actions are resolved.
By contrast, retention creditors are exposed to around £15m. These retention balances remain subject to potential defect notifications, which could lead to deductions before any funds are released.
Administrator Begbies Traynor’s creditors report reveals there remains a long tail of potential cladding and Building Liability Order claims against the business.
Up to 16 firms, represented by solicitors, have signalled possible claims but not yet established their value. Some have asked for insurer details under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act, so far these total roughly £91m.
At the same time, the administrators have identified a £204.5m potential “downstream” claim pool against historic subcontract packages and their insurers — covering cladding, façades and related remedial works, which they intend to review and pursue where viable.
The administrators report traces Ardmore’s downfall back to the Building Safety Act 2022, which extended liability for defective premises to 30 years retrospectively and 15 years prospectively, making main contractors and group companies responsible for historic defects. The change triggered a surge of fresh claims on completed projects stretching back decades.
The situation worsened after the High Court’s December 2024 ruling in BDW Trading v Ardmore Construction, which centred on fire-safety defects in blocks completed between 2003 and 2004.
The judgment set a precedent and proved the turning point for the London contractor.
By then, Ardmore had already spent more than £100m on remedial works, with a further £75m agreed with insurers, but its legal costs were spiralling with £687,000 paid to lawyers in February 2025 alone.
As cash reserves dwindled and a winding-up threat from a retention creditor landed late on 27 August 2025, directors took the decision to place the business into administration the following day.
The administration affects only Ardmore Construction Limited, which for decades acted as the group’s flagship contracting arm but had not taken on new jobs since 2021.
Other Ardmore Group businesses: Major Projects; Hotels & Commercial; Regeneration; and Fitout remain unaffected and continue to trade profitably.
