A STEEL fabrication business near York says it has been left hundreds of thousands of pounds out of pocket now that a company it was working with has entered administration.

Flatford, in Elvington, has been creating tanks and pipework for Ham Baker Adams, which has a site in Clifton Moor in York, as part of a major project on a sewage treatment works near Manchester.

HBA and its parent company FJ Holdings have gone into administration, as revealed by The Press on Thursday, with 34 jobs going in the process division, including the final seven at the firm’s Clifton Moor site.

Flatford says more than £500,000 of goods that it has made and have already been installed at the sewage treatment works have not been paid for by HBA. In addition, it is also owed in excess of £250,000 by HBA for goods which it has made for the same project but have not been installed and are being kept at Flatford’s site in Elvington.

A director for the Flatford said: “Creditors have told us we won’t get anything back from this.

“It’s extremely damaging to our business. We are doing our best to manage the situation.

“We are extremely disappointed after 20-plus years having a good working relationship with the York branch.”

He added: “They [Ham Baker Adams] have been paying normal business terms until February. They were pretty much up-to-date with payments. We officially found out on Thursday like everyone else.”

York Press:

The administrators FRP Advisory have declined to comment on amounts, but said: "There are a number of creditors owed money by the company and we are currently in the process of writing to all known creditors to establish their claims. At this stage, it is unclear as to whether there will be sufficient funds available to distribute to unsecured creditors."

Adams Hydraulics was founded in York in 1885 but was bought by Ham Baker in 2008, becoming part of Ham Baker Adams.

It had been based at King’s Pool opposite Foss Islands Road for many years until the early 1990s, when it moved to a purpose-built manufacturing and assembly facility in Clifton Moor. The 2008 sale was hailed as good news for York as it protected skilled manufacturing jobs.

The group reported a consolidated turnover of £30m in its most recent accounts but faced cash pressures following an expansion into larger, longer-term contracts.

Efforts to raise additional funding over recent months failed.

In recent years staff numbers in York appear to have been significantly cut back, with only seven people said to work at the York site in recent times.