Father-and-son catering butcher The Buckingham Butcher collapses into administration

A father-and-son catering butcher supplying restaurants, pubs, schools and colleges across Buckinghamshire with locally sourced meat entered administration on 11 May 2026. Zane Collins of Rushtons Insolvency was appointed to handle the case.

The High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts in Leeds, Insolvency and Companies List, sealed the appointment under court number CR-2026-000438. The notice was published in the Gazette on 18 May 2026.

The company

The Buckingham Butcher Limited was incorporated on 30 August 2016 and operated as a retail sale of meat and meat products under SIC code 47220. Based in Buckingham, the business built its trade around sustainable, locally sourced fresh meat and poultry delivered to restaurants, pubs, schools, colleges and private clients. The company's registered address has since been changed to 6 Festival Building, Ashley Lane, Saltaire, BD17 7DQ, the address of the insolvency firm.

Trevor Denton and Harry Denton, understood to be father and son, were directors at the time of the administration appointment. Trevor Denton has been a director since incorporation on 30 August 2016, while Harry Denton was appointed on 23 November 2021. Amanda Denton served as company secretary from incorporation but resigned on 18 March 2019.

The company had filed accounts made up to 31 March 2025 on a total-exemption basis, available to small companies.

The administrator

Zane Collins of Rushtons Insolvency is the appointed administrator. Administration is a formal insolvency process in which a licensed insolvency practitioner takes control of a company to try to rescue it, sell it as a going concern, or realise its assets for creditors.

Secured lender

Ecapital Commercial Finance (North) Limited holds an outstanding registered charge over all assets of the company by way of a first fixed and floating charge, created and delivered on 14 November 2025. A floating charge is a form of security over assets that change from time to time, such as stock, debtors and cash; it crystallises into a fixed charge on insolvency. The charge documentation notes that the company was precluded from creating any further charge over its book debts ranking in priority to or alongside Ecapital's charge without the lender's written consent. As a secured creditor, Ecapital ranks ahead of unsecured creditors in any distribution of assets.

For suppliers, customers and creditors

Once administrators are appointed, they issue statutory communications and payment instructions to known creditors in due course. Correspondence is handled through the insolvency firm at the registered address on the notice.

Creditors owed money can evidence their claims through a proof of debt, the formal claim form submitted to the administrators setting out the amount owed. This is a standard step in the administration process.

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

Customers who have paid for orders that have not been 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, and they rank behind secured and preferential creditors when assets are distributed.

Employees with claims for unpaid wages, notice pay or redundancy are treated as preferential creditors for certain amounts. Where the company cannot meet those obligations, the Redundancy Payments Service, a government body, exists to meet statutory entitlements in qualifying cases and then pursues its own claim against the insolvent estate.