Channel Islands contractor placed into administration

Channel Islands-based contractor Garenne Construction Group Ltd (GCGL) has been placed into administration.

Geoff Jacobs and David Standish from Interpath Advisory and Linda Johnson and Leonard Gerber of KPMG Advisory have been appointed as joint liquidators of the firm, which was declared as insolvent.

The administration is the latest in a string of company failures in the construction sector, with County Durham-based specialist supplier Intelligent Steel Solutions Ltd also set for liquidation.

According to the administrators, following the liquidation of GCGL subsidiary Camerons on 27 March, a number of significant cross-guarantee claims “have crystallised due to strained trading conditions across the wider GCGL group, which, given the quantum of the claims, has rendered GCGL insolvent”. 

Administrators said in a statement that “The directors determined that GCGL was unable to continue to trade given its financial position,” thereafter shareholder resolutions were passed by GCGL’s shareholder to place the company into voluntary winding-up and to appoint the joint liquidators to realise GCGL’s assets (comprising shares in its subsidiaries) and attend to the winding-up in an orderly manner.

Geoff Jacobs, managing director at Interpath Advisory, said: “Our intention is to retain six employees for a period of time to continue the provision of certain head-office functions to the wider group entities, where appropriate to do so, and we will also seek to realise the shares in certain subsidiaries. We thank the employees in advance for their support during this challenging time.”

Established in 1985, GCGL is the parent company and provider of certain head-office functions (including IT, HR and finance services) to various subsidiaries and other parties. Its trading subsidiaries comprise, among other things, construction and renovation businesses, facilities-management operations and shopfitting contractors. 

Linda Johnson, partner at KPMG in Guernsey, added: “Following the closure of Camerons, the insolvency of GCGL has been precipitated due to the various guarantees it provided which have been called upon. Anyone with an interest in any subsidiary entity should make immediate contact with the liquidators.”