UK construction firm Warwick Ward enters administration, jobs lost

A United Kingdom construction firm, Warwick Ward (Machinery) Ltd, has made all of its employees redundant and has entered administration.

The leading nationwide supplier of earthmoving machinery and recycling equipment has been operating since 1970 and the current “wider economic challenges” impacting the construction and recycling sectors have caused the company to collapse.

For context, when a company enters administration, it has become insolvent (unable to pay its debts) and enters a formal legal process where an independent, licensed insolvency practitioner (the administrator) takes control of the business.

The company’s owner-directors Ashley and Matt Ward sold the construction firm to an employee ownership trust in 2023 and just after two years, it entered insolvency.

According to The Construction Index, Warwick Ward was previously operating at a £680,000 pre-tax profit and sales of £51 million; however, it reported immediate financial losses after the sale:

• £1.3 million in pre-tax loss
• Sales revenue dropping by 11 percent

Joint administrator James Lumb said that the debt accrued as part of the company’s transition was a major contributing factor to its downfall, adding, “Wider economic headwinds put unsustainable pressure on the company’s cash flow, which in turn led to the appointment of an administrator.”