Administrators seek £31.3m from Henry directors and relatives

Administrators for Henry Construction Projects are seeking £31.3m from its directors and their relatives.

In their latest report, released today (10 July), joint administrators David Hudson and Geoffrey Rowley of FRP Advisory Trading revealed they had potentially identified more than 5,000 potential creditors.

They said to date they had received 22 claims from suppliers.

Last month, Construction News reported that the administrators had lodged proceedings at the High Court against former directors Mark Henry and John Noone, along with five of Henry’s family members, in a bid to recover money they say is owed to the firm.

Today’s adminstrators’ report revealed they are also seeking to recover an additional £15.8m from 10 companies with connections to the Henry family.

When Henry Construction Projects called in administrators on 8 June 2023 it owed £43m to suppliers but held only £290,000 in cash.

“During the course of the administrators’ investigations, it became apparent that the company had entered into various transactions for the personal benefit of members of the Henry family,” the report said.

It said the firm paid approximately £2m to HMRC to discharge the personal tax liabilities of Elizabeth Henry and William Henry, Mark Henry’s deceased father, and said Henry owes the firm a £270,000 outstanding director’s loan.

The report said it is estimated that preferential creditors are owed around £90,000.

London-headquartered Henry was ranked 41^st in the 2022 CN100 list of the UK’s biggest contractors with revenue of £402.2m and pre-tax profit of £14m in its most recent published accounts, covering the year to 30 June 2021.

When Henry Construction entered into administration, all of its 54 employees were made redundant.

Earlier this month, FRP successfully applied for a two-year extension

Henry Construction Projects is a wholly owned subsidiary of Henry Group Holdings Ltd, which was incorporated in 2016 and solely owned by Mark Henry.

Henry Group Holdings Ltd went into liquidation on 18 August 2023.