Portland appointed liquidators of West Sussex construction firm

The South Coast's business recovery practice Portland has been appointed liquidators of Bramber Construction. The West Sussex-based construction firm, which has traded for over 43 years, closed its doors after a sudden reduction in incoming enquiries and ongoing contracts being delayed or cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 lockdowns.  

Bramber Construction specialised in all areas of construction for both the domestic and commercial markets, including construction of buildings, convenience stores as well as providing overall construction management consultancy services. They operated from a single site in Shoreham, but managed to build a vast network of clients and connections, including contracts with a number of local and health authorities.

Portland are now dealing with the sale of the freehold property, collection of the debts and retentions with a view to repaying the debt due to the secured creditor and also paying dividends to preferential and secondary preferential creditors.

Portland Director Steve Godwin commented: "Through no direct fault of their own, and despite having a great reputation within the construction industry, when the Directors saw a steep reduction in income, they made the difficult decision to cease trading and appoint Portland to manage its affairs in the liquidation of the company. The government restrictions due to the pandemic left Bramber Construction in a vulnerable position with many contracts being cancelled or delayed. While there is increasing demand for builders for smaller projects, we are sadly seeing more and more building firms struggling and experiencing financial distress in recent months as the need for larger projects has slowed down. The increasing costs of materials is also putting strain on cashflow for many businesses and delays in the supply chain, possibly due to Brexit, has made sourcing materials difficult and time-consuming. All of this, in an industry that heavily relies on efficiency and time management, is possibly leading to both domestic and commercial customers losing confidence."

All 17 employees, including 3 Directors, were made redundant with Portland assisting all former staff with the formalities of claiming any monies which they are due from the Redundancy Payments Office. 

With offices in Hampshire, Dorset and London, Portland helps businesses deal with financial distress and achieve financial stability through business support and better cashflow.