News: Administrator's report highlights £46m debts at stricken Rotherham firm, CF Booth
With the announcement of the sale of historic Rotherham firm, CF Booth Limited’s business and assets to Hu11 Limited, a subsidiary of Ron Hull Jnr Limited, an administrator's report shows how trade creditors are owed over £8m and are unlikely to see any of it.
James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to CF Booth Limited, one of the UK’s leading metal recycling companies, on 16 January 2026 and subsequently appointed Joint Administrators at a further five of the company’s subsidiaries on 20 January 2026.
Subsequently, on March 10, the same joint administrators were appointed to Demex Limited and Albion Jones Limited, also subsidiaries of CF Booth. Immediately following these appointments, the joint administrators completed a sale of substantially all the assets of all eight companies to Hu11 Limited. The transactions for Demex and Albion Jones were going concern sales, allowing the demolition business to continue operations.
In January, 54 members of staff were retained to assist the administrators with 114 members of staff made redundant. The administrators only mentioned that 29 members of staff employed by Demex and Albion Jones have transferred to Hu11 Limited.
A February report from Interpath showed that staff members are preferential creditors and should share £144,022.
One of the group's largest debt is with IGF, which only provided a £20m asset-based lending facility in 2025. The debt totalled £14.2m and administrators expect IGF will be repaid in full.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is listed as a secondary preferential creditor in respect of £1.2m in outstanding VAT, PAYE and National Insurance Contributions with Interpath expecting that they should receive a dividend.
£30.6m is owed to unsecured creditors. Administrators said before the sale that: "Based on present estimates, there may be a return to unsecured creditors. However, this is dependent on the value achieved from the sale of business and assets (which is not yet known), and the final costs of the administration which are also presently uncertain."
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Unsecured creditors in administration are suppliers, customers, or contractors without security for their debt, ranking at the bottom of the repayment priority list.
The unsecured creditors list include £3.5m - Employees, £14.3m - Intercompany creditors and another £2.2m - Other HMRC and HSE Fines & Penalties.
Company trade creditors are listed in a new update and the total owed is £8.2m.
The update also shows that the company had trade debtors owing them £12.8m when it went into administration, and that it owned property with a book value of around £3m that administrators now estimate could be realised at £11.5m. The company's main operation was at a 35-acre site at Armer Street, Masbrough.
Overall, administrators say that there is £17,319,045 as the estimated total assets available for preferential creditors, namely IGF and the HMRC. It goes on to say that when it comes to unsecured creditors, there is a deficit of £14,627,408.
In the unaudited management accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025, CF Booth Ltd recorded turnover of £107.3m and a loss of £5.3m. The company had recorded losses in each of the previous three years.
The February report explains: "Over recent months, the business experienced substantial operational and financial headwinds, including sharp rises in energy costs and pronounced volatility in copper prices. These market pressures materially undermined margins and generated a level of cost volatility that the business was unable to absorb.
"In addition, the company faced escalating cost burdens arising from increases to the National Living Wage and growing environmental compliance obligations. Additional strain was caused by VAT liabilities and penalties imposed by the Health and Safety Executive, all of which compounded the deterioration in cashflow and further weakened the Company's financial resilience."
CF 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 Ltd was then fined £1.2m by the HSE after an investigation following the death of an employee on site.
Images: Google Maps
James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to CF Booth Limited, one of the UK’s leading metal recycling companies, on 16 January 2026 and subsequently appointed Joint Administrators at a further five of the company’s subsidiaries on 20 January 2026.
Subsequently, on March 10, the same joint administrators were appointed to Demex Limited and Albion Jones Limited, also subsidiaries of CF Booth. Immediately following these appointments, the joint administrators completed a sale of substantially all the assets of all eight companies to Hu11 Limited. The transactions for Demex and Albion Jones were going concern sales, allowing the demolition business to continue operations.
In January, 54 members of staff were retained to assist the administrators with 114 members of staff made redundant. The administrators only mentioned that 29 members of staff employed by Demex and Albion Jones have transferred to Hu11 Limited.
A February report from Interpath showed that staff members are preferential creditors and should share £144,022.
One of the group's largest debt is with IGF, which only provided a £20m asset-based lending facility in 2025. The debt totalled £14.2m and administrators expect IGF will be repaid in full.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is listed as a secondary preferential creditor in respect of £1.2m in outstanding VAT, PAYE and National Insurance Contributions with Interpath expecting that they should receive a dividend.
£30.6m is owed to unsecured creditors. Administrators said before the sale that: "Based on present estimates, there may be a return to unsecured creditors. However, this is dependent on the value achieved from the sale of business and assets (which is not yet known), and the final costs of the administration which are also presently uncertain."
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Unsecured creditors in administration are suppliers, customers, or contractors without security for their debt, ranking at the bottom of the repayment priority list.
The unsecured creditors list include £3.5m - Employees, £14.3m - Intercompany creditors and another £2.2m - Other HMRC and HSE Fines & Penalties.
Company trade creditors are listed in a new update and the total owed is £8.2m.
The update also shows that the company had trade debtors owing them £12.8m when it went into administration, and that it owned property with a book value of around £3m that administrators now estimate could be realised at £11.5m. The company's main operation was at a 35-acre site at Armer Street, Masbrough.
Overall, administrators say that there is £17,319,045 as the estimated total assets available for preferential creditors, namely IGF and the HMRC. It goes on to say that when it comes to unsecured creditors, there is a deficit of £14,627,408.
In the unaudited management accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025, CF Booth Ltd recorded turnover of £107.3m and a loss of £5.3m. The company had recorded losses in each of the previous three years.
The February report explains: "Over recent months, the business experienced substantial operational and financial headwinds, including sharp rises in energy costs and pronounced volatility in copper prices. These market pressures materially undermined margins and generated a level of cost volatility that the business was unable to absorb.
"In addition, the company faced escalating cost burdens arising from increases to the National Living Wage and growing environmental compliance obligations. Additional strain was caused by VAT liabilities and penalties imposed by the Health and Safety Executive, all of which compounded the deterioration in cashflow and further weakened the Company's financial resilience."
CF 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 Ltd was then fined £1.2m by the HSE after an investigation following the death of an employee on site.
Images: Google Maps
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