News: On the scrapheap? Administrators called in at £100m+ turnover Rotherham firm
The future of a historic Rotherham firm is in doubt after it appointed administrators.
The move comes after the group posted significant losses and the sad death of a director.
Headquartered and founded in Rotherham in the 1920s, CF Booth has grown from a local metal trader into one of the largest independently run metal recycling companies in Europe. With its massive Masbrough site, the business has been family owned and operated and employed over 200 staff, trading both ferrous and non-ferrous metals and processes recycled materials for a wide range of customers across the UK and beyond.
Over the years, hundreds of railway carriages and engines have been brought to the site for dismantling and recycling.
On January 16, C F Booth Ltd filed a notice to appoint James Ronald Alexander Lumb and Howard Smith of Interpath Advisory as joint administrators.
Administrators are brought in to help rescue the business, sell it, or wind it down to achieve the best outcome for creditors, often involving immediate action like managing redundancies while exploring sale options to preserve value.
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The company's latest financial accounts showed that the year ending 2024 was a testing one for the business. It reported sales of £113.6m that were 16.30% lower than the £135.7m achieved in the previous financial year. Commodity prices remained high but the volume of scrap traded was down 15%.
The company posted a loss of £5.9m after year's of profit.
After the year end C F Booth received notice that its appeal against an historical VAT Penalty assessment dating back a decade was unsuccessful resulting in a penalty of £1.4m becoming payable to HMRC. C F Booth Limited was then fined £1.2m by the HSE after an investigation following the death of an employee on site.
The accounts also showed that time was running out for the firm's banking facilities with £18m worth of loan and overdraft facilities falling due for renewal in June 2025 with the loans being repayable on six months' notice in the absence of an agreement to roil forward the facilities.
As part of refinancing, the group took out a short term loan in June 2025 of £1.5m to facilitate working capital requirements.
In October 2025 Rothbiz reported that Interpath Advisory assisted CF Booth on in securing a flexible £20m asset-based lending facility from Independent Growth Finance (IGF) "to support its growth ambitions."
In the same month, the large 82,624 sq ft C F Booth premises at Lyme Street was listed for sale / to let with agents. Pictures show an empty warehouse.
December 2025 saw the death of Ken Booth Jr, who oversaw significant expansion at Clarence Metal Works during his and his brother James’ tenure.
Images: Google Maps / Knight Frank
The move comes after the group posted significant losses and the sad death of a director.
Headquartered and founded in Rotherham in the 1920s, CF Booth has grown from a local metal trader into one of the largest independently run metal recycling companies in Europe. With its massive Masbrough site, the business has been family owned and operated and employed over 200 staff, trading both ferrous and non-ferrous metals and processes recycled materials for a wide range of customers across the UK and beyond.
Over the years, hundreds of railway carriages and engines have been brought to the site for dismantling and recycling.
On January 16, C F Booth Ltd filed a notice to appoint James Ronald Alexander Lumb and Howard Smith of Interpath Advisory as joint administrators.
Administrators are brought in to help rescue the business, sell it, or wind it down to achieve the best outcome for creditors, often involving immediate action like managing redundancies while exploring sale options to preserve value.
Advertisement
The company's latest financial accounts showed that the year ending 2024 was a testing one for the business. It reported sales of £113.6m that were 16.30% lower than the £135.7m achieved in the previous financial year. Commodity prices remained high but the volume of scrap traded was down 15%.
The company posted a loss of £5.9m after year's of profit.
After the year end C F Booth received notice that its appeal against an historical VAT Penalty assessment dating back a decade was unsuccessful resulting in a penalty of £1.4m becoming payable to HMRC. C F Booth Limited was then fined £1.2m by the HSE after an investigation following the death of an employee on site.
The accounts also showed that time was running out for the firm's banking facilities with £18m worth of loan and overdraft facilities falling due for renewal in June 2025 with the loans being repayable on six months' notice in the absence of an agreement to roil forward the facilities.
As part of refinancing, the group took out a short term loan in June 2025 of £1.5m to facilitate working capital requirements.
In October 2025 Rothbiz reported that Interpath Advisory assisted CF Booth on in securing a flexible £20m asset-based lending facility from Independent Growth Finance (IGF) "to support its growth ambitions."
In the same month, the large 82,624 sq ft C F Booth premises at Lyme Street was listed for sale / to let with agents. Pictures show an empty warehouse.
December 2025 saw the death of Ken Booth Jr, who oversaw significant expansion at Clarence Metal Works during his and his brother James’ tenure.
Images: Google Maps / Knight Frank
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