Bathroom pod maker OEP UK enters administration five years after pre-pack rescue of sister firm

Offsite Engineered Products UK Ltd, the Heysham-based bathroom pod manufacturer that acquired its collapsed sister company OEP Building Services in a £85,000 pre-pack sale in 2021, has itself entered administration. The same managing director, Iain Crabtree, was at the helm for both insolvencies.

The Business and Property Courts of England and Wales Insolvency and Companies List (ChD) sealed the appointment on 14 May 2026, under case number CR-2026-000458. Robert Neil Dymond and Paul W Barber, both of BTG Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP, were appointed joint administrators. 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 and its history

Offsite Engineered Products UK Ltd was incorporated on 8 May 2019 and operates from Units 3, 4 and 5 Stalls Road, Heysham Business Park, Heysham, Lancashire. Its registered office for the purposes of the administration is Suite 500, Unit 2, 94a Wycliffe Road, Northampton, NN1 5JF, the address of the appointed firm. Companies House records classify its activities under two SIC codes: other manufacturing not elsewhere classified, and other specialised construction activities not elsewhere classified.

The company's origins lie in the failure of OEP Building Services, a sister entity that went into administration in 2021 leaving 135 suppliers owed a combined £1.7 million. OEP UK acquired that business in a pre-pack sale, a transaction in which a buyer, often connected to the existing management, agrees terms to purchase a company's assets immediately upon administration, for £85,000. Crabtree led that acquisition. Five years on, OEP UK has followed the same path.

Directors and officers

The directors at the time of the administration appointment were Iain Edward Crabtree, who has held office since incorporation on 8 May 2019, Thomas James Dean-Betts, appointed on 17 December 2021, and John Samuel Desborough, appointed on 5 November 2024. David Michael Cowperthwaite, also a director from incorporation, resigned on 20 September 2022. Nicholas Moore served as company secretary from 1 November 2021 until 31 March 2024.

Secured lenders

Four outstanding charges are registered against Offsite Engineered Products UK Ltd. A secured creditor is one whose debt is backed by a charge over the company's assets, ranking ahead of unsecured creditors when assets are distributed.

Rook Bristol Financial LLC holds a charge created on 26 February 2026 and delivered to Companies House on 2 March 2026. It contains a floating charge, a form of security that covers assets changing from time to time such as stock, debtors and cash, and includes a negative pledge restricting the company from granting further security without consent. Bizcap Limited holds a general fixed and floating charge over all assets, created on 1 August 2025. Lancashire County Developments (Property) Limited holds a charge created on 21 February 2024. Reward Capital Limited holds a charge created on 17 December 2021, the same date Dean-Betts joined the board.

The administrators

Dymond holds IP number 10430 and Barber holds IP number 9469. An IP number is the licence number issued by an insolvency practitioner's recognised professional body, identifying the individual practitioner. Both are of BTG Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP. As joint administrators, either may act alone unless the appointment specifies otherwise. Enquiries can be directed to Niamh Clarke at the firm on 0114 275 5033 or at sheffield.north@btguk.com.

What this means for creditors and suppliers

Once administrators are appointed, they issue statutory communications and payment instructions to known creditors in due course. All correspondence is conducted through BTG Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP at the Northampton address listed in the notice.

Creditors wishing to evidence amounts owed will do so by submitting a proof of debt, the formal claim form used in insolvency proceedings to record the sum a creditor says is outstanding. The administrators will issue guidance on this process as the case progresses.

The appointment triggers a moratorium under Schedule B1, paragraph 43 of the Insolvency Act 1986, the legal pause on most creditor enforcement action once a company enters administration. Creditors generally cannot start or continue court proceedings, or enforce security, without the court's permission while the moratorium is in place.

Suppliers or customers holding unpaid invoices, undelivered orders or deposits rank as unsecured creditors in the absence of a charge, meaning they sit behind secured lenders in the order in which assets are distributed. With four charges registered and outstanding, the position for unsecured creditors will depend on what assets the administrators are able to realise.

Employees' claims for arrears of wages, notice pay and statutory redundancy are treated separately in administration. Qualifying amounts can be met from the National Insurance Fund via the Redundancy Payments Service, a government body that processes such claims when an employer is insolvent. The fund then becomes a creditor of the administration in place of the employee for those sums.