FRP Advisory sells Kiveton Park Steel out of administration

PHIL PIERCE and Ben Woolrych, partners at FRP Advisory, have sold out of administration the business and assets of Kiveton Park Steel Limited, the maker of specialist steel products used by the automotive industry, to a company controlled by Henry Dickinson, an owner manager of British manufacturing businesses.

The sale allows for the business to continue to trade as Kiveton Park Steel from the same 15 acre premises in Sheffield and secures job opportunities for around 50 staff under new ownership, after nine months of continuous trading in administration which had provided ongoing work for 100 staff during one of the most turbulent periods of recent history for the UK steel industry.

Kiveton Park Steel is a specialist manufacturer and processor and supplier of bright steel coils, bars and wire, all essential components across the UK car manufacturing industry, but after a sharp deterioration in trading during the first half of 2015 had put unsustainable pressure on cash flow, the company was left with no viable option but to seek the protection of administration.

At the end of September 2015 Phil Pierce and Ben Woolrych, partners of FRP Advisory, were appointed as joint administrators over the company.

Upon their appointment the joint administrators at FRP Advisory secured an initial supply agreement with the Company’s customers to ensure that it had sufficient funding to continue to trade until mid-December 2015 while the business and assets were marketed for sale. The supply agreement with customers was later extended until June 2016 to provide funding for the business and securing ongoing work for 100 staff associated with the business while sales talks continued.

FRP Advisory said it negotiated with a total of 16 different parties interested in the business and assets, resulting in a number of competing offers out of which the offer from Dickinson provided the best long-term solution for the business’ on-going trading and assets, its long term loyal customers, staff and the company’s creditors.

The South Yorkshire-based manufacturer had traded under continuous family ownership since 1922 but in recent years faced the challenge, along with the rest of the UK steel industry, of plunging prices due to global competition. Prior to the appointment of administrators Kiveton Park Steel had explored a number of options including a solvent restructuring of the business to secure the company’s future.

The sale of the business secures job opportunities for around 50 staff under the new ownership.

Phil Pierce, partner at FRP Advisory and joint administrator, said: “The sale is a great result not just for Kiveton Park Steel, Sheffield and the wider Yorkshire economy, is also encouraging for the steel industry across the UK which continues to meet the challenge of global competition.”