Hertfordshire steel-detailing firm's six-year insolvency journey ends in dissolution
SDS Steel Design Ltd began a CVA moratorium in November 2019 supervised by RG Insolvency, but the arrangement failed, leading to liquidation and dissolution by May 2025.
Information for general guidance, drawn from the public record. Not legal, financial, or insolvency advice. If you are affected by an insolvency, consult a licensed practitioner or qualified solicitor.
SDS Steel Design Ltd, a Hertfordshire-based steel-detailing company, entered a company voluntary arrangement moratorium on 20 November 2019, with Avner Radomsky and Michael Goldstein of RG Insolvency appointed as joint nominees to supervise the process.
A CVA moratorium is a short breathing space granted under the Insolvency Act 1986 that pauses creditor action while a proposed company voluntary arrangement is put to creditors for approval. Radomsky held IP number 12290 and Goldstein IP number 12532. Both practitioners operated from Devonshire House, Manor Way, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The moratorium ended on 12 December 2019, just over three weeks after it began.
The company had been incorporated on 7 January 2013 and classified its trade under SIC code 71121, covering engineering design activities for industrial processes and production. Its registered address at the time of the moratorium notice was Matthew House, Matthew Street, Dunstable.
The CVA and its collapse
RG Insolvency was supervisor of the CVA that followed the moratorium. A notice of intended dividends published in The Gazette set 4 March 2022 as the last date for creditors to prove debts, with claims directed to the firm at Borehamwood. The supervisors indicated they intended to declare an interim dividend within two months of that date, suggesting the arrangement was still active into early 2022.
The CVA ultimately failed. Avner Radomsky and Simon Renshaw were appointed liquidators in a creditors' voluntary liquidation in February 2023. A creditors' voluntary liquidation is a formal winding-up process initiated by the company's directors when they conclude the company cannot pay its debts, with creditors approving the appointment of a liquidator to realise assets and distribute proceeds. A return of final meeting was filed at Companies House on 10 February 2025, and the Final Gazette notice dissolving the company was published on 10 May 2025.
Officers
Ian Roger Martin Gutteridge was a director from the company's incorporation in January 2013 and resigned on 6 December 2022, before being reappointed on the same date. Adam William Gutteridge served as a director from 31 January 2017 and resigned on 10 December 2019, shortly after the moratorium ended.
Secured creditor
Bibby Financial Services Limited held an outstanding registered charge over the company, created on 27 April 2017 and delivered to Companies House on 2 May 2017. The charge took the form of a first legal mortgage over all land and property interests belonging to the company, including buildings, fixtures, fixed plant and machinery, and the proceeds of any sale of such property. As a secured creditor, Bibby Financial Services held a charge over company assets and ranked ahead of unsecured creditors in any distribution.
For creditors and suppliers
With the company now dissolved following the completion of the creditors' voluntary liquidation, the formal claims process has concluded. During the liquidation, creditors were required to submit a proof of debt, the formal claim form used to evidence the amount owed to each creditor, so the liquidators could assess and rank claims accordingly.
The moratorium under Schedule B1, paragraph 43 of the Insolvency Act 1986 pauses most creditor enforcement action without leave of the court. That protection applied during the administration period of the CVA. Once the CVA failed and liquidation began, the liquidators took control of realising assets.
Trade suppliers and customers with unpaid claims ranked as unsecured creditors in the liquidation, meaning they were paid only after secured and preferential creditors received their distributions. Employee claims for wages, notice pay and redundancy are treated as preferential in part, with any shortfall handled through the Redundancy Payments Service, a government body that meets certain statutory entitlements when an employer is insolvent.
Common questions
Are you owed money by Sds Steel Design Limited?
You are an unsecured creditor unless you hold a registered charge or retention of title. The administrators will write to known creditors in due course with a proof-of-debt form and timetable for the first meeting. Until that letter arrives, no formal action is required from you. Read more about proof of debt and where you sit in the creditor hierarchy.
Did you work at Sds Steel Design Limited?
Wages owed up to a statutory cap, holiday pay, notice pay and redundancy may be claimable from the Redundancy Payments Service if the company is unable to pay. The administrators will normally coordinate the RP1 claim with the affected staff. See gov.uk: your rights if your employer is insolvent.
Do you hold a deposit, gift card or undelivered order from Sds Steel Design Limited?
Customers with paid-but-undelivered orders, gift cards or deposits typically rank as unsecured creditors. Where you paid by credit card and the amount was over £100, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 may let you claim from the card issuer for breach of contract or misrepresentation by the supplier; the rules apply per item, not per transaction, and the card must be a regulated credit card. Debit-card payments may be recoverable via chargeback.
Are you a director of a company connected to Sds Steel Design Limited?
Watch for Section 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986 if you intend to keep trading under a similar name in a successor company. The rule prohibits a director of a liquidated company from being involved in another company using the same or a similar name for five years, unless one of the statutory exceptions applies. Read more about Section 216.
Sources
- The London Gazette notice (code Moratoria, Prohibited Names and Other: Moratorium: Coming into Force)
- Companies House record 08349403
- Editorial standards: how we source and review; five-pass pipeline.
