HMRC petition triggers administration at Somerset machinery maker KTRW Engineering

HMRC presented a winding-up petition against KTRW Engineering (Developments) Limited on 1 August 2025, starting a nine-month court process that ended with the High Court of Justice sealing the appointment of joint administrators on 15 May 2026, the same day as an application hearing at the Rolls Building.

Andy John, holding IP number 20896, and Miles Needham, IP number 14372, both of FRP Advisory Trading Limited, took up the appointment that day. Administration is a formal insolvency process in which licensed insolvency practitioners take control of a company to attempt to rescue it, sell it as a going concern, or realise its assets for creditors. John and Needham are joint administrators, meaning either can act alone unless the appointment specifies otherwise.

FRP Advisory's contact address for the case is 2nd Floor, Churchill House, 26-30 Upper Marlborough Road, St Albans, AL1 3UU. The firm can be reached by telephone on 01727 811111, with Oliver Mulvaney listed as the alternative contact at cp.stalbans@frpadvisory.com.

The company

KTRW Engineering (Developments) Limited was incorporated on 20 December 2005 and operates from Unit 9, Bancombe Court, Martock, Somerset, TA12 6HB. Its registered trade description covers the manufacture of other special-purpose machinery not elsewhere classified, a sector covering bespoke industrial equipment built to specific customer requirements rather than mass-produced lines.

The company's most recent filed accounts cover the period to 31 December 2023, prepared under the total-exemption-full regime available to smaller companies. Accounts for the year to 31 December 2024 were due by 31 December 2025 and have not been filed.

The winding-up petition was heard on at least two cause-list dates before the administration route was pursued. The Rolls Building listed the case before Chief Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Briggs on 4 February 2026, and again before Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Burton on 1 April 2026. The application hearing on 15 May 2026 before Judge Mullen resulted in the administrators' appointment.

Officers

The sole current director is Richard Whittington, who has held the role since the company's incorporation on 20 December 2005. Keith Neville Tridgell served as both director and company secretary from incorporation but resigned from both roles on 1 February 2012.

Secured lenders

Five outstanding charges are registered against KTRW Engineering (Developments) Limited, all held within the Lloyds Banking Group. The oldest, created in December 2007 and delivered to Companies House on 29 December 2007, is an omnibus guarantee and set-off agreement in favour of Lloyds TSB Bank PLC covering credit balances held by the company with the bank.

A mortgage in favour of Lloyds TSB Bank PLC, created in January 2008, covers units 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 at Bancombe Court, Martock, together with fixed plant and machinery by way of fixed charge and moveable plant, machinery and equipment by way of floating charge. A fixed charge is security over a specific identified asset; a floating charge covers a class of assets that changes over time and crystallises on insolvency.

Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance Limited holds an all-assets debenture, created in January 2012, comprising fixed and floating charges over the undertaking and all property and assets, including goodwill, book debts and uncalled capital. Two further charges in favour of Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Limited were created in March 2017 and November 2017 respectively. The November 2017 charge is a legal mortgage over units 4 and 5, Bancombe Court, registered at HM Land Registry under title number ST141894.

For creditors, suppliers and customers

Once administrators are appointed, the joint administrators handle the conduct of the insolvency and issue statutory communications to known creditors in due course. Correspondence is routed through FRP Advisory at the St Albans address.

Creditors wishing to evidence amounts owed do so by submitting a proof of debt, the formal claim form used in UK insolvency proceedings to record the sum a creditor asserts is outstanding.

The appointment of administrators triggers a moratorium under Schedule B1, paragraph 43 of the Insolvency Act 1986, which pauses most creditor enforcement action. During the moratorium, creditors generally cannot start or continue court proceedings or enforce security without the court's permission.

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

Employees' claims for unpaid wages, notice pay and statutory redundancy are treated as preferential or unsecured depending on their nature and the amounts involved. The Redundancy Payments Service, a government body, processes statutory redundancy and other employment-related claims where a company in insolvency cannot meet them directly.