Hull metal structures manufacturer enters administration after 40 years of trading

James Lumb and Howard Smith of Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators to Commercial Systems International Limited on 13 May 2026. The Hull-based manufacturer of metal structures, doors and windows has been trading for nearly four decades.

The High Court of Justice, The Business and Property Courts in Leeds, sealed the appointment under case number CR-2026-LDS-000455. Administration is a formal insolvency process in which licensed insolvency practitioners take control of a company to try to rescue it, sell it as a going concern, or realise its assets for creditors.

The company

Commercial Systems International Limited was incorporated on 5 December 1986, originally under the name Commercial Systems Limited, which it traded under until 1995. Its registered office and principal trading address are both at 133 Marfleet Avenue, Hull, HU9 5SA. The company manufactures metal structures and metal doors and windows, operating under SIC codes 25110 and 25120. Its most recent accounts were made up to 31 January 2025.

The administrators

Lumb holds IP number 21510, the licence number issued by an insolvency practitioner's recognised professional body identifying the individual practitioner. Both Lumb and Smith are of Interpath Advisory. As joint administrators, they are two insolvency practitioners appointed to act together, though either can generally act alone unless the appointment specifies otherwise.

The officers

The directors at the time of the administration notice were Desmond Alan Craven and Maarten Jan Kleinhout, both appointed on 20 June 2016. Michael John Green resigned as director on the same date, as did Sandra Green, who had served as company secretary.

Secured lending

HSBC Bank PLC holds an outstanding registered charge over Commercial Systems International Limited, created and delivered on 12 January 2018. The charge is a fixed and floating charge over all assets. A fixed charge gives the holder direct rights over a specific identified asset, while a floating charge covers assets that change over time, such as stock, debtors and cash, crystallising into a fixed charge on insolvency. As a secured creditor, HSBC ranks ahead of unsecured creditors in any distribution of the company's assets.

For creditors, suppliers and employees

Once administrators are appointed, they issue statutory communications and payment instructions to known creditors in due course. Correspondence is conducted through Interpath Advisory at the contact address listed on the notice. Creditors wishing to evidence the amount they are owed do so through a proof of debt, the formal claim form submitted to the administrators as part of the claims process.

The appointment triggers a moratorium under Schedule B1, paragraph 43 of the Insolvency Act 1986, which pauses most creditor enforcement action once a company is in administration. Creditors generally cannot start or continue court proceedings against the company without the court's permission.

Customers who have paid for goods not yet delivered, or who hold deposits, rank as unsecured creditors. Unsecured creditors are those whose debts are not backed by a charge over the company's assets, and they rank behind secured creditors and certain preferential claims when assets are distributed.

Employee claims for unpaid wages, notice pay and redundancy are handled through the administration process. Where the company cannot meet those claims, the Redundancy Payments Service, a government body, pays statutory entitlements to eligible employees.