SFP Completes Sale of Loughton-based Facilities Services Firm

Nationwide insolvency practitioner, SFP, has successfully completed the sale of the business and assets of Mill Green Facilities Limited, a Loughton-based company providing a wide-range of facilities management services – securing jobs for 22 people.

Formed in 2006, the business primarily provided electrical engineering services, as well as commercial flooring, mechanical engineering and commercial cleaning. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and UK lockdowns resulted in a drop in work from construction clients, schools, office buildings and leisure centres, as well as the loss of major contracts, including a circa £1m cleaning contract with a hotel chain.

This situation was compounded by difficulties recruiting and retaining staff, and an increase in the cost of materials, and the company struggled to bounce back to its pre-pandemic position. With mounting debt and legal action from suppliers, the directors placed the company into administration.

After valuing the business, marketing the opportunity and considering any interest in the business, a sale was achieved on 17 October 2022 to Mill Green Services Limited. As a result of the sale, the vast majority of employees have retained their jobs and have been transferred under TUPE.

David Kemp, Joint Administrator at SFP, says that the sale is in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders: “Unfortunately, Mill Green Facilities was operating in the sectors that were among the hardest hit by the pandemic, lockdowns and even Brexit. Although the directors did their best to weather the storm, the losses sustained were clearly too great.

“The sale to Mill Green Services represented the best outcome for all involved, especially the 22 employees that were able to retain their jobs.”