Kirkcaldy company collapse with £ 30million in debt leaves many creditors with nothing

A report on Havelock Europa’s disappearance in 2019 found that few companies will get back the money owed to them.

The Mitchelston Industrial Estate-based company employed nearly 250 people at the time of its bankruptcy.

Now the final report of the joint administrators appointed as a result of its collapse have made their final report.

This shows that Havelock has been placed under administration with debts of £ 30million.

The company was the UK market leader in the manufacture and installation of furniture across a wide range of industries including education, healthcare, hospitality and retail.

Clients included the University of Edinburgh, Harvey Nichols, John Lewis and Lloyds Banking Group.

Around 50 creditors have lost £ 9million, but few will get their money back.

Scottish Enterprise will get nothing after investing £ 2.8million in the business, while Bank of Scotland will get around a quarter of its £ 4.8million investment, or around £ 1.3million sterling.

Havelock’s disappearance began in 2018 when he entered administration.

At the time, it had around 350 workers and a deal to sell its assets to a venture capital firm for £ 1.15million saved around 300.

Twelve months later, and with 247 employees on its books, the business collapsed and workers found themselves out of work almost overnight.

Havelock struggled under enormous cash pressure to maintain agreed upon payment plans, and revenue and profitability were already declining.

The report from co-directors Graham Frost and Toby Underwood said: “The performance of the company has been depressed since 2015.

Both sales and profitability declined in the two years leading up to our appointment as co-directors.

The company has not been able to meet and repay all of its long-term liabilities and has had to negotiate its contractual arrangements with these creditors.

Just two months after its collapse, the brand and name rights to Havelock were purchased by Mansfield-based furniture specialist Deanestor – which has a base in Dunfermline – for an undisclosed sum, but the agreement did not provide for no plans to reopen the Lang Toun plant. or offer work to staff who have been laid off.