Ardmore Construction Group enters administration after building safety ruling

Ardmore Construction Group Ltd and several related operating companies entered administration on June 12 after a High Court ruling over historic fire-safety defects disrupted cash flow, client confidence and the valuation of work across the contractor’s live projects.

Dominik Thiel-Czerwinke and Jamie Taylor of BTG Begbies Traynor and Jason Callender of Panos Eliades Callender & Co were appointed joint administrators. The affected businesses include Ardmore Construction Group, Ardmore Major Projects Ltd, Ardmore Regeneration Ltd, Ardmore Fitout Ltd and Landmark Facades Ltd.

The appointments followed the cessation of trading across the relevant companies. Approximately 275 employees have been made redundant, while the administrators have retained a limited number of staff to assist with the administration.

BTG said it had engaged with the Department for Work and Pensions and provided employees with information needed to submit claims to the Redundancy Payments Service. Specialist quantity surveyors have also been instructed, while BTG Eddisons has attended project sites to secure assets and assess security and health-and-safety requirements.

The collapse leaves a portfolio of major London construction projects facing delays or a change of contractor. Ardmore was working on developments including the Tribeca life-sciences and residential project in King’s Cross and Hackney Council’s Britannia, as well as hotel, residential and commercial projects elsewhere in the capital.

Ardmore attributed the administrations to the impact of a recent Building Liability Order judgment concerning the Admiralty Quarter residential development in Portsmouth, completed in 2009. Ardmore designed and built the 19-building development for Crest Nicholson Regeneration Ltd. Following investigations into post-Grenfell fire-safety risks, Crest alleged defects including combustible insulation and deficiencies in cavity barriers, fire barriers and fire-resistant sheathing.

An adjudicator awarded Crest approximately £14.9 million in May 2025 after finding breaches of contract and duties under the Defective Premises Act 1972. Ardmore Construction entered administration shortly before the adjudication decision was issued and did not satisfy the award.

In March, the Technology and Construction Court ruled that liabilities connected with the project could be imposed on associated Ardmore companies through Building Liability Orders under the Building Safety Act 2022. The court found that the statutory regime could be used to extend a relevant building-safety liability beyond the company that originally incurred it where doing so was just and equitable. The judgment confirmed that orders may be made against parent or associated companies, including in anticipation of a liability being finally determined or enforced.

Ardmore said the ruling affected client confidence, payment terms and certified valuations across a number of current projects, materially impairing the group’s ability to continue trading normally.

Ardmore had grown into one of London’s largest privately owned contractors, with work spanning residential, hotel, leisure, commercial and regeneration projects. Its most recently reported group accounts showed revenue of approximately £343.8 million and a pre-tax loss of £42.6 million.