Hewdens on brink of collapse
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Hewdens one of the largest plant hire companies in the UK is seeking new investment after it has been revealed that post Brexit trading conditions have damaged the company further and hundreds of jobs are at risk.

There website has been taken down as of today 21/11/17 nationaltradesmen does not know if this is because the company has stopped trading or if this is a technical issue.

 

Hewden’s owner has lined up the professional services firm EY to act as administrator to the Manchester-based company.

The firm is seeking to refinance £190m of borrowings, which are due to expire in the coming months potential new investors Alchemy Partners have gone cold in the bid to refinance the business.

It had been working with restructuring experts at Deloitte, who were hoping to refinance the business or sell it.

An announcement is expected to be made about EY’s appointment in the early part of next week, according to insiders.

Hewden’s failure, which would come after a frantic search for new financial backers in recent weeks, will fuel the debate about the impact of the EU referendum result on British industry.

In a statement last month, the company, which was established in 1961 and employs around 750 people, said it was confident that it could find new investors.

Hewden is now owned by private equity firm Sun European, which paid £110m to acquire Hewden from ­Canadian firm Finning in 2010.

hewdens

The compaines most recent accounts at Companies House, show it suffered a pre-tax loss of £16.6m on sales of £106m in 2014 this compounded poor previous years that included losses of £13m in 2013, £12m in 2012, £3.9m in 2011 and near £14m in 2010.

In a statement at the end of October the firm commented saying: “Hewden has been impacted by market uncertainty following the vote to leave the EU. The vote has adversely affected a number of large construction and capital investment projects.

“The company is in constructive dialogue with stakeholders to resolve the situation in a consensual manner and is optimistic that a positive solution will be found.

“The company is working with its advisers Deloitte to reach agreement with lenders on an extension of its debt facilities, whilst also testing market appetite for a sale of the business.”