In February 2020 Astins went into administration owing almost £12m to unsecured creditors. In the final administration report released by administrators at Leonard Curtis Business Rescue and Recovery, it stated that up to £500,000 may be available for creditors to be recovered through its contractual assets. However, due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis, a number of contract completions have been delayed, and no recoveries from contractual assets have yet been made. Nevertheless, administrators said they “remain confident” recoveries will be achieved.
Astins, which was based in Crawley and had been trading for 24 years, employed approximately 140 people and worked with over 600 self-employed sub-contractors. The suffered as a result of a number of substantial bad debts and claims received from clients in respect of historic contracts, which made it impossible for the business to continue to trade.
Ex-employees who have wages unpaid are the only claims that have been given “preferential status” by administrators, with each employee able to make a claim up to a maximum of £800, with amounts to a total sum of £148,891 expected to be received by staff.
