Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd was a construction company, originally founded in 1955. It was located near Stowe , between Buckingham and Silverstone in north Buckinghamshire and operated throughout England and Wales. It went into administration in 2023 with the loss of over 400 jobs and owing over ￡256 million to creditors and employees.

History [ edit ]

Established in 1955 as Buckingham Plant Hire, it incorporated in November 1987 as Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd. ^[1] The company became established as a main contractor undertaking major construction and civil engineering projects, run by managing director Ian McSeveney.

The company built several sports-related buildings including the ￡30m London 2012 Olympic handball arena (now known as the Copper Box ), a ￡30m pit lane development for the Silverstone Circuit , and the ￡93m Falmer Stadium for Brighton and Hove Albion FC . ^[2]

Administration [ edit ]

On 17 August 2023, the company filed for administration , jeopardising several ongoing projects, including a new ￡80m 7,000-seat stand at Liverpool 's Anfield stadium, a stand at Northampton Town 's Sixfields Stadium , redevelopment of Birmingham City 's St Andrew's stadium, restoration of Whitley Bay Metro station , new sidings at Beckton for London's Docklands Light Railway , and the mixed-use ￡135m Copr Bay development in Swansea . ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} The firm had also been working on a new stand at Fulham 's Craven Cottage ; reports suggested financial commitments to that project were partially responsible for the company’s difficulties. ^[9]

In September 2023, the group, which had a turnover of ￡700m, formally went into administration, with Grant Thornton appointed as administrators. ^[10] Kier Group bought Buckingham's rail assets and an HS2 contract for ￡9.6m, saving 180 jobs, but 446 staff ? across building, civil engineering, demolition, major projects, and sport and leisure operations ? were axed, while other ongoing projects were taken over by other firms. ^{[11] [5] [12]} The contractor's collapse was UK construction's biggest since Carillion went into liquidation in January 2018. ^[10]

The group's collapse left subcontractors owed over ￡100m. Debts on Liverpool's new Anfield Road Stand alone were around ￡20m. ^[13] A 29 September 2023 report from the administrator Grant Thornton confirmed trade contractors and suppliers were owed over ￡108m, with 1,200 unsecured creditors unlikely to see any kind of return. Buckingham Group had around ￡5m in the bank when it entered administration. ^[14] In January 2024, the total trade debt was revised upwards to ￡113m, while Buckingham’s employees were owed a further ￡8.2m. ^[15] In April 2024, administrators revealed that 1,375 claims had been received, revising the total trade debt to ￡256m; this total could rise further as claims from former employees progress through tribunals. ^[16]

The group's plant hire business, Buckingham Plant Hire, was initially said to be unaffected by the collapse of the contracting arm and continued to trade profitably. ^[17] However, it was owed around ￡1.8m, according to the administrator's creditors' report. ^[14]

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Official website