Administrators for the Osborne Group are facing legal counterclaims regarding contracts the firm had active at the time of collapse
The Geoffrey Osborne group fell into administration in April last year, with eight contracts active worth £1.8m.
It is the balances under dispute, and legal administrators have engaged with solicitors from Asserson.
RSM Restructuring Advisory are handling the Geoffrey Osborne group
RSM are unclear on whether Geoffrey Osborne’s creditors will receive benefit from the counterclaims, as they don’t expect any of the 504 trade creditors that the firm owed when it went under to be refunded.
At time of administration, the firm owed a total of £25.9m.
The firm also owed former employees £134,761, but RSM are also unsure if this will manifest, saying it was “dependent on future asset realisations.”
Further legal action is being considered by the administrators for recovering £2.2m is book debts owed to the former civils firm. None of these debts have been recovered in the past six months, and quantity surveyors Naismiths have been recruited to aid in their recovery.
100 people lost their job when the company went under
Geoffrey Osborne Ltd was founded in Chichester in 1966 alongside the rest of the companies in the Osborne Group.
Unfortunately, due to economic difficulties from inflation and covid, the companies all filed for administration.
At the time, the company statement said: “The decision was reached after an 18-month programme to restructure the firm to focus on the core construction business and following an extensive effort to secure new investment into the business.
“The company with its advisors are currently working with interested parties with the ambition that aspects of the business will be sold and will continue to trade. Negotiations are ongoing. To support this process all staff will be paid up to the date the administrators are appointed.
“Osborne has faced significant headwinds common to the entire construction over the past two years, fuelled by high inflation, the lingering impacts of COVID-19 and Brexit, and a slowdown in public sector procurement. Despite these challenges, Osborne has maintained strong relationships with suppliers, contractors and staff, while delivering for customers.
“To address this under-performance and protect the underlying construction business Osborne has sold its property management division, infrastructure business and offsite manufacturing arm securing the employment of over 850 jobs. The proceeds of all three sales have been reinvested into the construction business, which has continued to deliver projects in London and the southeast.
“Regrettably despite a substantive improvement in performance the residual losses on legacy projects have undermined performance which has impacted on the ability to win new work. Despite the management team ensuring the current business is profitable with a good pipeline of work the business has struggled to secure the necessary investment to continue as a going concern.”
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